


Hatred and Friendships

by TiPoFanForever



Category: Wreck-It Ralph (Movies)
Genre: Banishment, Gen, Gone Turbo/No Turbo Vanellope, Jealously, No pairings - Freeform, Ralph & Vanellope (Friendship), Recolors, Sheer Angst, Sugar Rush Unplugged, Taffyta/Shank (friendship), argument, mild violence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-03-16
Updated: 2019-11-02
Packaged: 2019-11-19 09:32:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 28,478
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18134021
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TiPoFanForever/pseuds/TiPoFanForever
Summary: Things were perfect for Vanellope, racing in Slaughter Race with her friend & idol Shank. But things change when her fellow racers from the arcade join her in there. After several failed attempts to amend things with her formidable rivals, she must seek help from an ally in the darknet. But will her tactics help her win her dream place back for herself or will she lose everything?*Post-RBTI* *Spoilers*





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> A/N: Hello, guys! Yeah, I’m working on ‘Fixing The Insecurity’ and I’ll update it soon. Till then enjoy this new story.  
> Disclaimer: I don’t own Wreck-it Ralph. It’s owned by Disney.

*BOOM*

A bunch of cars exploded and created smoke everywhere. “Woah!” Vanellope, in her shiny emerald car with skull design was startled at the sudden burst for a moment before she glitched and passed the barrier of the burning cars.

The player wooed in excitement. “Ha! There goes that little cavity. Now only to get this car to-”

“Hey, mister,” Vanellope, who had just pixelated out of the burning barrier pushed the gear and ran the car into reverse in front of the gamer’s car, confusing the poor gamer and causing him to slow down and bump into the barrier in panic until Shank’s gang surrounded him.

_*GAME OVER*_

Said the screen of the gamer. “Damn that little girl and her glitch!” The gamer who had just lose the race cursed and threw the remote control away, throwing a tantrum. “I gotta start the game again!”

“Wow, amazing power drift there, V.” Pyro appreciated, putting down his gas tanks. “That is a real tough thing to figure out.”

“Oh, come on, guh-doy!” Vanellope shrugged, jumping out of her car. “Shank taught that.”

“Well, you figured it out faster than I expected, V.” Shank said with a smirk. “Racing really is in your code.”

“Thank you,” Vanellope replied with a smile, giving a slight gesture of curtsey, which Shank returned. Suddenly, she felt a vibration in her pocket. She took out her Buzzztube Communication Device out of her pocket to find Ralph on line. “Hey, it’s Ralph’s call!” With a face full of excitement, she picked up the call, a laser of rays came out of the device, portraying Ralph’s clear image. “Hey, Stinkbrain! I was just gonna call you.”

“Well, beat you to it, kid. Got a surprise for ya’, I’m right outside Slaughter Race.”

“OH, SWEET MOTHER OF MILK! REALLY?!”

“Yeah! And I got someone with me. Why don’t you come to the entrance gate where we can actually meet?”

“Racer’s on her way. Will be there in less than a minute, Chumbo.” She winked before hanging up the call and shoved the device back in her pocket before glitching into her car. “Ralph’s here, Shank! Let’s go meet him.”

“Race you for it.” And Shank was already a mile away with her car. Vanellope excitedly turned on the engine and caught up to her in no time.

Just as assured, Ralph found Vanellope with her car in no time. “Stinkbrain!” she yelled up to her lungs and glitched out of her car, into his big arms. Ralph cradled her pint-sized body in his big hands lovingly. “I missed you like how a car would miss an engine.”

“I missed you too, kid. How is life going?” he asked, pinching her little cheeks as she seated herself comfortably on his palm.

“Well, everything is on fire.” She joked.

**BLAST!**

A helicopter crashed out of nowhere upon a car, blasting along with it, followed by a train crashing into it.

“See?”

“Yeah, I can see that.” Ralph replied with a nervous chuckle.

“But you suddenly here? Why the pleasant surprise?” she asked with smirk. “Wait, your game is okay, right?”

“Yeah, it’s perfect. But, uh…” he paused. “I…got some news for you. I brought someone with me.”

“Ooh! Who’s it? Is it Calhoun or Felix?”

“Well,” He begun.

“Or is it Yesss? Haven’t got to meet her in forever!” She interrupted.

“Vanellope.”

“Sorry, go on.”

“You know, it’s about your game. The old one.” He sighed.

“ _Sugar Rush_?” Vanellope asked, her eyes widened. She started glitching. “What about it?”

“Well,”

“Hello, President.”

Vanellope was surprised at the familiar voice as Taffyta stepped out from behind Ralph, followed by Candlehead, Rancis and rest of the racers.

“Taffyta? You guys here?” Vanellope glitched off Ralph to face them.

“Wow, thought you just forgot us.” Taffyta scoffed, licking her lollipop. “Especially after we lost all the contacts.” Vanellope breathed out deeply and glanced up at Ralph gravely.

“Ralph, why are they here?”

“Um…” Ralph begun.

“You would have known it yourself if you at least cared to check out _Sugar Rush_ once in a while _.”_ Taffyta said.

“Oh. I think I know why you guys are here. Look, I know I left the _Sugar Rush_ and decided to follow my dreams, but only because there were plenty of you guys to cover it up.”

“No, it was because you found us boring and uninteresting, and since you found something better, you dumped us in the dust, right?”

“Taffyta, listen. It’s nothing like that.”

“Was this your loyalty towards _Sugar Rush,_ President Von Schweetz?” Taffyta questioned, Vanellope stayed silent. Shank walked up to Ralph.

“I suppose they’re from her previous game, right? V told me about them.” she whispered. Ralph nodded in response.

“You expected us to get miserable without you, didn’t you? Well, guess what, Vanellope? Your plan actually worked. We’re unplugged for good because of you, Miss President.”

Vanellope’s eyes widened with shock. “…What? But I thought…the steering wheel saved it,”

“It did.” Candlehead replied. “But we lost popularity after you left, players were upset you never appear in the roster anymore and stopped playing. _Sugar Rush’s_ income kept going down day by day until Litwak decided to unplug it for good because it was no longer helping him in his budget.”

“But…I didn’t thought that’d happen.” Vanellope started glitching, distressed. “I didn’t thought anyone would care.” Ralph decided to change up the topic a bit.

“You know, Felix and Calhoun were pretty happy to take care of them, but we decided to take them here so they could keep up their racing instinct. Also, you’d got some company as well, kid.” Ralph said and turned to Shank. “Thought you guys had plenty of room for them, and they’ll get to race as well.” He said hopefully. Shank smiled.

“Well, why not? If they’re V’s friends, I’m pretty sure they might be good racers as well, right V?” Shank asked. Vanellope looked at her.

“Um… yeah, I guess they are...”

“Means they could stay?” Ralph asked.

“Well-”

“Um, Shank. Can I have a word with you?” Vanellope interrupted. She glitched into her car and glanced at the candy racers. “Alone.”

“Uh, yeah, sure.” Shank replied, as Vanellope started up her car. “Excuse us for a moment, I’ll be right back.” She jumped into her car and drove off to follow Vanellope.

“Well, stay together, kids. This game is a little weird for those who don’t have their codes in it haha,” Ralph chuckled nervously. The racers stared, watching the two cars fade into distance. Taffyta glared as she licked her lollipop.

_‘I know what you’re up to, Glitch.’_

Vanellope pushed the ‘stopper’ pedal, her car stopped with a screech. “What’s the matter, V? We weren’t even done talking there.” Shank stated, hopping out of her car.

“Don’t tell me you were going to say yes, Shank.” Vanellope slammed shut the door of her car.

“What do you mean?” shank asked, surprised. “They are your friends, aren’t they?”

“No, I mean, yeah. Look, they aren’t really what they look, Shank. You don’t know them. They’d been nothing but total jerks to me for 15 years.”

“But their game is…um, unplugged, you say?”

“Yeah, I admit it’s kinda my fault. But Shank, there are plenty of racing games in the Internet, do they have to stay _here_?”

“If they’re racers, what’s the problem? It’s a good thing we can have more racers. It will make it more challenging for the player to steal my car and finish the game.”

“But…didn’t I come here first?”

Shank raised an eyebrow. “Race isn’t about who starts first, V, it’s about who finishes first. You don’t want to stay with them?”

“No… I didn’t mean that. Look, I left _Sugar Rush_ without a word and now it’s unplugged, they’re gonna bully me about it.”

“What makes you think that?”

“Because that’s what they’ve always done, ga-doy!” Vanellope replied, infuriated. “You don’t understand! Taffyta is gonna make me pay for everything we’ve been through. She just…she just doesn’t like me.”

Shank knelt down before her. “You changed your mind about everything about the past when you walked into this game, little sister. Who knows they too will?” Shank said. “Why don’t you give them a chance, V? Give them a chance to change their minds and be your friends?”

Vanellope sighed before looking up at her. “Only because you say. But I’m not gonna apologize for anything I haven’t done, especially to Taffyta.”

“Alright. Let’s go, little sister.” Shank hopped into her. Vanellope sighed before doing the same.

_‘I know what’s in their minds. They’re gonna take revenge on everything.’  
_

_  
_ “Think this game looks a little weird?” Crumbelina guessed.

“ _A little_ is an understatement.” Minty added. “This game is total weirdo.”

“I think it’s cool.” Swizzle replied as he tossed his basketball through the hoop, making Gloyd groan.

“You’ll get used to it.” Felony replied. A helicopter came flying clumsily and passed from inches above their heads before flying away, startling everyone, especially Ralph.

“Woah! That was close! Kids, you better be careful, no one knows what’s gonna happen here.” Ralph said, looking back and forth cautiously.

“My candle!” Candlehead cried, her candle had blown out by the passing helicopter.

“I can help you with that.” Pyro said, taking out hid gas tanks, only to be stopped by Ralph.

“Don’t you even think about it.” He warned.

“What are you talking about? I was gonna take this out.” Pyro pulled out a matchbox and lightened her candle with it.

“Thanks.” Candlehead smiled at him, he smiled back.

“That’s better. Felix and Calhoun are gonna kill me outside my game if something happens to them.” Ralph muttered. He turned back to see Shank and Vanellope approaching. “Oh, hey, kid.”

“Hey Stinkbrain.” Vanellope glitched upon his shoulder.

“You know I better be leaving now. The arcade might be opening soon.”

“Aw, but ya’ just came, we didn’t even hang out.” She complained, she was already distressed much, and now Ralph was leaving as well.

Ralph took her in his arms. “I know, kid. But you got your dream game and fellow racers right here, why don’t you hang out with them while I do my _duty.”_ He teased, hoping to make her laugh at the last word, but surprisingly for him she didn’t; instead she just gave the candy racers who were enjoying to themselves a glance before looking back at him with a frown. “Come on! Where’s my tough little girl? You’re gonna be fine.” She sighed and nodded slightly. Ralph smiled and poked her cheek before gently placing her on the ground and turning to Shank. “I hope the kids will be okay here.”

“Don’t worry about that, big fella’. We’re always happy to have more racers.”  She replied, putting her hands in her pockets. Vanellope silently walked away.

“What’s up with her? What did you guys talk about?” Ralph whispered, watching as Vanellope glitched while walking. “Is she okay?” Shank smiled and placed a hand on his shoulder.

“She’ll be fine. She’s just a bit overwhelmed by the sudden change. Kids, y’know.”

“Yeah, just make sure she’s fine. Thanks again.” Shank nodded. Ralph told the kids to take care before he left the game.

Taffyta licked her lollipop and stared at Vanellope who passed by without glancing at her. “Why do I get a feeling that you’re not happy that we got a home, Vanellope? Is it because you expected us to get miserable without our game and you?” Vanellope stopped and turned to her.

“Why would I ever want that?”

“Just ya’ know, I think you didn’t want to stay with us. After all, we’re too boring for you, huh? That’s why you left.” Taffyta replied with a scowl. Vanellope rolled her eyes and put her hands in the pocket.

“Think what you want to think. I just followed my dream and I don’t feel anything’s wrong with it. After all my whole life has been nothing but hell thanks to you and I’ve been nothing but a worthless glitch to you. After all those years of torment and rejection, I’m finally living my life for myself, is that really too much to ask for?” Vanellope questioned with an expressionless face. Taffyta stepped closer to her.

“You don’t always get what you ask for, Von Schweetz, maybe you’ll understand someday. After all you aren’t the fancy ‘almighty so-called president’ here; things aren’t going to be your way like they always have been.” Vanellope stared at her silently as Taffyta tossed a lollipop at her that she caught. Taffyta grinned before winking. “Stay Sweet.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you’ll like it. I don’t own Wreck-it Ralph.

 

 

“Heyo! Anyone want a burnt pie?” Ralph asked as he marched through the apartment, accidently tripping and the pie crashing into Felix’s face. “Oops, sorry, Felix.”

Felix sighed and took out his hammer. “I can fix it.” With a tap on his face with the hammer, he fixed his face.

“When are you gonna be done with baking that stuff, Wreck-it? Because no one wants to eat that.” Calhoun folded her arms.

“Well, I never knew baking could be so interesting.” Ralph said as he licked his fingers. “You wanna try too, Felix?”

Felix shook his head before sighing. “No, thank you, Ralph. I appreciate the offer though.” Calhoun and Felix held each other’s palms.

“Come on, how long are you guys gonna keep thinking about the kids not being here?”

“It’s just too empty here without them,” Calhoun said with a sigh. “Those kids were real tough guns.”

“I know, but at least they can keep up with their racing there.”

“They’ll be safe there, right Ralph?” Felix questioned.

“Hey, I was worried about the same thing when Vanellope wanted to stay there. You know, I ended up doing some nasty stuff like putting virus in the game. But turns out the place isn’t so bad, the people are great there.”

“What about Vanellope? How’d she react to it? I mean to the kids.”

Ralph paused for a moment. “She…kinda acted weird. I think she’s just unable to make things up with the kids, you know, after she left without a word. She’s just a bit overwhelmed by everything happening so suddenly, at least that’s what Shank said.” He sighed. “I hope she’s okay and those kids won't…well, bother her.”

Felix placed a hand his Ralph’s huge hands. “They won't, brother. They’re better than that, I know them very well, trust me.”

Calhoun nodded. “Yeah, Wreck-it, they have better morals. And I’m not dead yet, anyone bothers and anyone and they have go through me.” Ralph replied with a nod.

* * *

 

Vanellope leaned down the open bonnet of her with a wrench in her hand, checking carefully that everything was functioning precisely.

“You know, that car actually looks pretty cool.” Rancis commented as he observed her car. Vanellope wept the sweat off her forehead, as she paused and looked at him.

“Thanks.” She simply said. “I call her Lickety-Split.” She replied. Taffyta turned to look at her, raising an eyebrow.

“Lickety-Split?” he asked. “Wasn’t that the name of…”

“My old handmade pedal powered go-cart that you guys destroyed, yeah.” The kids looked down in embarrassment, remembering the time they used to torment her. “I named her after it. It’s a good reminder how some people who used to say I can't be a racer, you know, cuz’ I’m a glitch were proven wrong.” She said, giving a glance at Taffyta who narrowed her eyes.  “Also, I kinda see a gleam of the Lickety-Split in her. She’s fast and trustworthy, just like her.”

“So, it’s like a tribute?” the blond boy asked, still nervous. Vanellope stared at him and shrugged.

“Maybe.”

Taffyta placed a hand on Rancis’ shoulder and pulled him away while still looking at Vanellope. “Well, good thing she remembered that weird little cart, even though she just forgot about _Sugar Rush_ and got it unplugged again.”

Vanellope narrowed her eyes and glared at her. “I wasn’t talking to you.”

“Neither was I.”

“You were talking about me.”

“So were you."

“So what? I was saying the truth.” Vanellope replied as she shut the bonnet of her car and hopped over it.

“So was I. You literally got our game unplugged again.” Taffyta pointed out.

“Well, uh, I didn’t say anything about you guys being in my game now.”

“Your game? Excuse me, it’s not _just_ _your_ game, miss.” Taffyta stepped closer to her and folded her arms. Everyone started to get worried. “We’re only here because Shank is okay with it, no one gives a fudge about your opinion, _princess_.”

“Shut up.”

“I won't. You’re no boss of anyone here. So, quit with that attitude cuz’ you don’t got that stinky balloon of a bad guy groveling before you to serve you here, miss Arrogant von Schweetz.” Vanellope snarled and directly pounced at Taffyta, pinning her to the ground and ready to pack a punch. The two kept trying to strangle each other as everyone tried to stop them.

“Don’t you say another word about my best friend!” Vanellope warned as she let go of her before turning away and walking to her Lickety-Split, stomping with anger.

“Calm down, Taffyta.” Candlehead said, as Taffyta shove away her arm, glaring at the former princess.

“You call yourself his best friend? After leaving him in dust? I’m quite sure that’s not what a friend is supposed to do.”

“Taffyta, stop it, okay?” Candlehead convinced again. “Remember what mom told us? No fighting.”

“Ralph and I know each other better than you.” Vanellope replied. “And you’re the last person I’m learning friendship from.”

“Yo, V.” Shank said as she approached and noticed the heated situation. “Um, is everything okay here?”

Vanellope kept cleaning her car. “Yup, cool as a cucumber. What’s up?”

“Well, good. The game’s gonna be online in a moment, we got a race at the Sequoia Speedway. You ready?”

“Will be right there before ya’, Shanky.”

Shank chuckled. “You better check your car twice, it’s a mountainy and a super foresty track, it’s gonna be a tough one.”

“That sounds fun, can we be there too?” Swizzle asked.

“Well, I suppose you can. You’ll get an idea about the racing in here.”

“Be careful you don’t get your candy butt chopped by a truck, haha.” Vanellope muttered with a giggle, that nobody seemed to have found funny.

“Be careful you don’t accidently glitch your royal butt away from the finish line while you laugh at us, princess.” Taffyta replied with a smirk. Vanellope rolled her eyes, Shank stopped herself from giggling at the weird argument of the kids.

“We’ll see.” Vanellope hopped into her car as she drove off. Shank shook her head before driving off herself.

“So, what do _we_ do?” Rancis asked. “We don’t have any car here.”

“Hey, guys, come over here, I found something cool!” Swizzle called out from a garage.

* * *

 

“Looks like it’s players DirtySocks537 and BabeRaham_Linkin again. These players are real tough cookies.” Shank commented as soon as she caught up with Vanellope. “What do you say we teach them a lesson, V?”

“Why not?”

Felony, Pyro and Little Debbie’s cars also caught up. “Have you guys seen Butcher Boy?” Felony called out. Everyone shared look.

“He’s not here?” Shank asked. “Call him and tell him the gamer’s here. V, come with me.” Felony nodded and dialed up Butcher Boy.

“Where are you, still listening to TED Talks? The player’s here!” Felony scolded him on the phone.

“Uh, actually I was just looking for my car. I can't find it.” Butcher Boy replied on the phone as he looked around in the garage.

“What? How the heck could you lose your car?”

“I don’t know, okay? The garage was open and the car was missing.” Felony raised an eyebrow, who would steal his car?

Shank matched up with the pace of the players, Player DirtySocks537 pushed her car against the wall. Vanellope entered with a drift jump that caused the player to slow down his car which gave Shank the opportunity to get back to the track. Player BabeRaham_Linkin jumped in as well and blocked Vanellope’s way, but Vanellope knew well about dealing with this stuff and was just managing to overtake the player before a bullet hit her car’s tire and busted it. Vanellope shrieked as her car dazed out of balance and ran off the track, crashing into the shrubs.

“Wow, that was cool, DirtySocks.” Player BabeRaham_Linkin commented on her microphone to her fellow gamer who had just managed to successfully bust the kid’s car.

“Hah, I just unlocked this upgraded gun, how cool is that? Let’s get Shank and jack her ride.” Player DirtySocks537 replied.

“Sure, why not?”

Shank glanced back to see if Vanellope was okay, although she knew nothing can probably happen to Vanellope she was still a bit worried but decided to keep the game up. Her most skilled sidekick was out, she had just started to wonder where the rest of the guys were until she noticed Butcher Boy’s car coming, but instead of him, it were the little candy coated racers driving it.

“This car is cool! I’ve never been in a car so fast before!” Swizzle commented as he drove the car, astonished.

“Hey, is that a nitro?” Rancis pressed a button.

“Get your hands off, Rancis! I’m driving!”

“You’ve been driving all the way here, now it’s my turn!” Minty shouted and tried to snatch the steering wheel from him.

“Well, I mean I’m the one who found it, okay? Now back off.” Swizzle pushed Minty back.

“We all should get turns!” added Adorabeezle.

“Ooh, what does this lever do?” Candlehead wondered as pulled the lever, causing the car to spin around with a screeching noise.

“No, Candles! That’s a handbrake!”

“I don’t suppose we have that feature in our carts, this is fun!”

“Stand back, Candles, we’re gonna crash!” Taffyta shouted, as the car kept spinning until it crashed into player BabeRaham_Linkin’s car, sending it flying over. Shank raised an eyebrow. “That’s it! Back off, I’ll drive!” Taffyta shoved Swizzle off the driving seat and took over.

“Well, that was one crazy move.” Shank commented from her car as she matched up with their pace. “You think you can take down the other one as well?”

“You bet.” Taffyta replied increased the speed, running straight ahead the player’s car into a bunch of barrels full of gunpowder. “Light ‘em up, Candlehead.” Candlehead used her candle to light up the barrel.

“Uh oh,” player DirtySocks537 flinched as his the barrels exploded at his car as soon as he reached them.

*END OF THE ROAD* said the game screen.

“Gosh, dang it! I hate this game!” he cried and threw away the remote controller.

“Haha! That was fun!” the kids cheered.

“Well, that was one cool race.” Shank said with a smile as she hopped out of her car. “You kids did pretty good job there.”

“Thanks, you did a good job too.”

“Oh there you are, my car!” Butcher Boy came and hugged his car. “Oh, I was worried sick.”

“Well, that’s one cool car.” Candlehead commented with a smile.

“I suppose it’s time you kids get cars for yourselves.” Shank said, glancing at Butcher Boy hugging his car. “Y’know, so that you don’t have to steal Butcher Boy’s car next time.”

“Oh my gosh, really?!” the kids asked. “You mean we all get cool cars like that?” The adult racer smiled and nodded.

“Uh, guys, I think Little V needs some help.” Felony called out. Shank realized that she had almost forgotten about Vanellope and quickly rushed to see Vanellope’s car stuck in the woods.

“V, are you okay?”

“Yeah, I guess.” Vanellope glitched out and checked her car’s condition, which was definitely not the best. One of the tires of the car was busted and it also had body damage due to the crash. She sighed with a frown. “Fudge, how could I get off guard?! That was so close, if only this stupid thing had not busted!” she angrily kicked the tire.

“Well, good thing your little friends saved the day.” Shank replied as the racers smiled. Vanellope gave them a look.

“They did?”

The kids nodded. “Yeah, because some princess accidently glitched her royal butt out of the track like I said.” Taffyta mocked.

Vanellope glitched, offended. “I didn’t glitch, my tire got busted! What was I supposed to do?!” They giggled at her little tantrum, much to her own annoyance.

“Okay, let’s get your car back for repairing then.” Shank said as she started to walk away. “And by the way,” she turned to the kids. “I’d love to race with you guys again. Wanna come?” The kids shared a glance and nodded with a smile. Vanellope glitched again, standing there dumbstruck. Taffyta turned to her with a smirk and winked, licking a lollipop. Vanellope looked at her, annoyed.

_‘Huh! Just got lucky busting two cars and acting a champ.’_

* * *

Vanellope back at the garage, smashed opened the bonnet of her car with an annoyed grumble, checking for damage. She kept scolding herself for letting her guard down and embarrassing herself in front of everybody. “Sweet Mother Hubbard, what was I thinking?” she muttered as she opened a nut with her wrench. She remembered when Taffyta winked at her in a mocking way, she had never felt so embarrassed before. Of course she couldn’t blame her, Vanellope herself had given her an opportunity by embarrassing herself.

“Come on, kid. It’s no big deal you got distracted and crashed, it sometimes happens to everyone.” Felony commented from some distance, watching the distressed kid trying to fix her car.

Vanellope just nodded. _‘Yeah but that wasn’t the perfect time to have a crash.’_ She thought.

“Yeah, why are you treating it like it’s the end of your life’s biggest race?” Pyro wondered. “What’s the big whoop?”

“The big whoop?” Vanellope grumbled under her breath as she slammed closed the bonnet of her car. “Taffyta just got a chance to mock me, that’s the big whoop!” the two racers rolled their eyes at her. “I don’t know what Shank might be thinking about me!”

“You know, kid? You really need to chill out.” Butcher boy said as he drank cola from his can. “You see, I watching a Ted Talk last night,” He begun, Vanellope rolled her eyes and sighed. “…and I don’t really remember what it was about but the point was, losing doesn’t define us, it help us improve.”

“You’re saying I’m a loser?” The kid asked, narrowing her eyes and folding her hands.

“What? No, I’m saying you shouldn’t be so hard on them.”

“Those guys stole your car, man.”

“Yeah, they did raced pretty good. So, I don’t really mind.”

“You wouldn’t mind if they’d even blown up your car and destroyed it, would you?” Vanellope guessed. Butcher Boy hesitated to answer.

“Well, uh, I…don’t suppose that-”

“Of course you don’t. Do you guys want me to count up how many times they destroyed my handmade carts just because they didn’t believe I could become a racer? Or bullied me, threw me in the mud or bodily and emotionally tormented me?” Vanellope asked. Everyone stayed silent at her words. “Of course you don’t. No one ever did, because no one ever cared. Good thing I do have a person who actually cares.” Her phone suddenly vibrated in her pocket, she took it out. “See? There he is.” She picked up the call, as a hologram of Ralph appeared.

“Hey, kid.” He greeted.

“Hey, Stinkbrain.”

“How’s your day going? How are the other kids?” Ralph asked.

Vanellope paused. “Um…yeah, they...they’re having fun.” The adult racers decided to give the kid some privacy and left the garage.

“Great, good to know they’re doing okay there. You know, Felix and Calhoun have been on my tail since I dropped them there.”

“Woah, you have a tail? How come I never noticed?” Vanellope joked, Ralph giggled at her.

“I hope you’re doing well with them, aren’t you kid?” He asked with a hopeful smile. Vanellope hesitated a bit before giving him a slight, assertive nod. She couldn’t disappoint him after all. “That’s my buddy, I knew it! You know, the kids were saying that you’re not going to be pleased to see them or treat them well, but I knew that my Vanellope is better than that. I’m so proud that you saved me and everyone in the arcade from taking care of those obnoxious kids by befriending them, good thing everything is fine now. No, literally, I’m proud of you, sis.”

Vanellope couldn’t help but smile at him. “Yeah, thanks, buddy. You’re the best.” Ralph gave her a huge grin.

“Man, I could’ve hugged you right now if it wasn’t just a hologram. Well, I gotta go right now, the arcade might be opening soon. See ya’ later, Fart Feathers.”

“Bye, Stinkbrain.” Vanellope replied. Ralph was about to give her a fist bump but she already hung up. She switched off the device and sighed. She realized that she didn’t tell him about the crash.

_‘Better not mention to him, he’ll just start to worry.’_

* * *

“See, there’s nothing to worry about.” Felix said as soon as Ralph hung up the phone. “Of course Vanellope is having a great time with the racers.”

Ralph put the device back into his pocket. “I know, but look, the kids still have seriously bullied her in her past. And of course she forgave them, she still doesn’t seem to have mixed up with them much.”

“Wasn’t it Turbo who had locked up their memories?”

“Yeah, it was, but that still doesn’t clear the memories she has with them.”

“Well, now you know, Wreck-it, you can trust the youngsters. Those kids are some real tough and trained soldiers now.” Calhoun added up as she walked by.

“I agree with Tammy, as long as there’s no danger on the kids there, I don’t suppose we have to worry.” Felix said. “Vanellope will befriend the racers, I know.”

“Yeah, now it looks like she will.” Ralph said with a small smile. “Anyway, I’m making another burnt pie tonight. Interested?”

Felix and Calhoun groaned. “Not again, Ralph!”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: So this chapter was longer than I expected. I was going to part this in two separate chapters but thought this works well too. Sorry if the racing scene wasn’t that impressive, I’m not good at writing those. School is opening now so updates might be slower, hope you guys will understand.
> 
> Anyway, hope you liked it. Reviews would be very much appreciated, thanks.
> 
>  


	3. Chapter 3

“It was a great day of racing with you kids.” Shank appreciated as they completed their driving session. She was really amazed on how kids were amazingly skilled at racing, so courageous and aggressive when it came to driving, which was not really something you’d expect from the characters of a game created for children. Now she could see how Vanellope was so stunningly skilled when they first met, of course she had great company back there at _Sugar Rush_.

“We got actual real cars for us in here, isn’t that great?” Candlehead said, excitedly shaking Taffyta’s arm who nodded. A bunch of cars flew over them as they heard Swizzle yell.

“I gotta say this is my dream car!” Swizzle shouted delightfully as he drove around his precious car that had body like a truck, wheels like a tank, it also had bulldozer arms that were designed to pick and throw anything in its way as a special feature. It was not really that fast but it was extremely powerful. “I call her Bloody-Molasses, whatcha’ say?”

“What kind of a name is that?” Adorabeezle inquired, disgusted.

“Why? What’s wrong with it? I thought it sounded cool.” He muttered before a spiked ball hit his truck, scratching it. “What the…? HEY, GLOYD! Watch where you’re going!”

“You shouldn’t be standing in the middle of the road.” Gloyd replied. His car was not as big as Swizzle’s but it was faster and had spikes on all over its body, it had two big spike balls colored like a pumpkin in the front tied with chain, “I’m still trying to get this things.”

“Do you two have any idea that you’ve chosen one of the weirdest cars in here?” Shanks asked with a smirk.

“Well, dad says it’s always good to be different.” Swizzle said with a snicker until another spiked ball hit his truck’s bonnet. “Gloyd! You gotta keep that under control!”

“That one was on purpose.” The pumpkin-headed boy smirked.

“Well, this means war! My Bloody-Molasses is going to kick your molasses.”

“Hey, wait, you’ll scratch it!”

“Should’ve thought that earlier, pumpkin head.”

­­­The kids cheered at the two’s little racers ‘battle’ and jumped in with their own cars. Shank rolled her eyes and shook her head with a chortle. _‘Just like V…’_ then she remembered it, she needed to check out Vanellope, the kid might need some assistance after she lost the race. Shank began to walk away.

“Hey, Shank.” Called out Taffyta as she followed the adult racer. “Just wanted to say, thanks for letting us stay here, and we even got our own real cars for racing. This game is really cool.” The pink racer said with a slight blush, which was almost invisible under her already red cheeks. “And so are you, you’re…well, you’re an inspiring racer. Thank you, ma’am.”

Shank smiled at her. “Around here, peeps like to say _Shank you,_ kiddo.” The strawberry-hatted racer giggled at the pun. “Wanna come with me?”

“Sure. What are you up to?”

“Just thought to check V out. She might need some assistance after the crash in the race. Losing is like…y’know, a quite big deal for her. Especially, during the gameplay.”

“Of course, she never changes. Cuz’ she’s too proud to accept her flaws.” The blond haired racer muttered. “Some president.”

“Why do you hate Vanellope so much, Taff? She’s not so bad, I think she’s a pretty nice person.” The light-brown haired adult racer asked, folding her sleeves up her forearms.

“Oh, you mean business here, that’s why she’s nice to you. But she hates us… particularly me I guess.” The last part was almost hard to hear.

“Hm…Maybe it’s because you never gave her a chance to cooperate?” Shank guessed.

“Oh, we did, a lot.” Taffyta rolled her eyes and scowled as she kicked a pebble. “When she first became the president and forgave us for our mistakes, I thought the gaps between us would finally fill up, but Vanellope never let that happen. We always respected her as a leader, but still…it seemed like there was something in her mind that still separated her from us.” Shank listened patiently as the girl continued. “We invited her to parties, festivals and get togethers to socialize and be friends with her… but she never appeared, because all that ever mattered to her was her friendship with Ralph.”

Shank looked at the road ahead and put her hands in her pockets. “It may be easy to say you forgive someone, but it’s way harder to forget the things they’ve done. The things V have experienced in her early life have scarred her mind for life. The kid just has trust issues, she doesn’t hate any of you, trust me.”

“I thought that too. But…we can't change the past, can we? It was all cuz’ Turbo brainwashed us into tormenting her.” She replied, this time actually feeling bad for everything she had done to Vanellope. “But even after all that, we tried our best to gain her trust. She just…refuses to have a restart on everything. But what I really hate about her is her arrogant and immature self that she is. We always treated her like how a leader should be treated… and now after she got something of her own wishes, she dumped us in dust like…6 years of our loyalty meant nothing to her?” Shank could sense the feeling of pain and betrayal in the kid’s voice. She stopped and knelt down, patting the kid’s back. “That’s when I realized that Vanellope never deserved the luxury and loyalty we provided her; if all she cares for is herself, I’m just no longer intend to be friends with her. I handled her presidential duties well when she was not present, and I probably do it better.” She finished angrily as they reached their relaxation-spot and Shank offered her to have a seat. “And for the record, I never liked being a bully.” Shank offered her a can of cola. “That jerk Turbo made me be what I never wanted.” She mumbled quietly.

“But now kid, you got no Ralph or no presidential duties here, now you guys can actually work out to get to know each other the way you never did. This place helped me realize that there’s no better friendship than believing in each other and supporting their dreams, you too will realize eventually.”

“But after what she did, I’m probably not being her friend even if she asks for it. But for now, I know she planning to do something to get us out of this game.” Shank placed a hand on her shoulder.

“No. I promised Ralph and your parents that you’re safe here. There’s no way anyone’s making you leave against your wishes. And about V, we’ll get her accept the change; she’s sweet as her name and she’ll accept you all when she sees you racing. You kids are young racers who are destined for more than you are and talent like yours is always welcomed here in this place called Slaughter Race.” Shank told her. Taffyta couldn’t help but smile at Shank’s words.

“You know, Shank, you’re very wise person. Maybe we can be friends, if you want to...” Taffyta said as she smiled and offered her a lollipop with a wink. “…Stay Sweet.” Shank took it with a chuckle.

“Alright then, kiddo. By the way, do you wanna see more of our game? I will you show you around if you want.” The adult racer stood up and offered a hand.

The blonde-haired racer grinned and nodded as she hopped and grabbed her hand. “Sure, why not?”

_Vanellope stood alone in a strange place that had smog all around. She looked around, not seeing anything. Stepping forward, she decided to call out for someone’s presence. “Hello! Anybody here?” She cupped her hands and called out, only receiving silence as a reply. “Hello?” She squeaked as she lowered her hands._

_“Hello, Vanellope.”_

_Vanellope quickly turned back to see a figure almost same as her height stood there. The smog suddenly disappear as the figure was revealed to be Taffyta. “Taffyta?” Taffyta slowly stepped closer to her, she had a stern look on her face as she stared into Vanellope’s eyes. Nervous, Vanellope took a few steps backward until she tripped on something, which was revealed to be a little jawbreaker. She was just wondering what it was doing there until the fog disappeared and revealed a very familiar environment. “Sugar Rush?” she asked. “But how…?” she found herself surrounded by the little candy-coated racers, all giving her a cold look. “What do you guys want? Leave me alone!” she said, determined as she stood up._

_“It’s all your fault, Vanellope.” Taffyta replied in a dark voice._

_“What?” Vanellope asked before the environment suddenly started to turn orange. “Wait, what?” Taffyta pointed at a random spot in the sky that happened to be a screen with an ‘Out of Order’ sign on it. Vanellope gasped. “No…it can't be…”_

_“Yes, and this is all your fault, Vanellope. All because you abandoned Sugar Rush when it needed you.”_

_“No…that’s not true.” Vanellope tried to defend herself as they all walked toward her. “Get away from me!” She took some steps back._

_“It all happened because you believed that you could be anything more than just a stupid, worthless glitch which you can't!” Taffyta spat in a sharp voice as she shoved Vanellope into a pond of mud._

_Vanellope sniffed and wept her face, glaring up at her bullies. “No,” she replied. “I’m **not** a worthless glitch. You can't tell me what I’m supposed to be.”_

_Taffyta stared at her darkly before smirking. “Fine then, glitch. Your choice. You’ll pay your price for ruining everybody’s life.”_

_“W-What do you mean?” Vanellope heard a noise and turned back to find her car parked there. “My Lickety-Split! What are you doing with her?!” she asked with rage as she stood up and rushed to her car, only to be held back by the pink racer._

_“Not so soon, Miss President. There’s something you might wanna see.” Vanellope watched in terror as Gloyd, Swizzle and Torvald came with a bulldozer with smirks on their faces. “You took our game from us, we’ll take your everything from you.”_

_Vanellope wanted to rush and stop them but strangely she felt as if her feet were frozen in place. “No, no, please! Don’t do this! Please, wait!” she begged as the bulldozer lifted its huge metal arms, aiming for the vehicle. “NO! WAIT, STOP IT!” Vanellope screamed helplessly as she was forced to watch her prized car getting wrecked into metal pieces as the bulldozer continued hitting it again and again. Taffyta laughed evilly in conquest, followed by the other kids._

_“You’ve lost everything, Von Schweetz.”_

_Vanellope kept crying for them to stop but she got from them was joyful laughs of mockery. “NO! PLEASE, I BEG YOU, LET GO OF HER! DON’T HURT HER!” Vanellope could finally fall to her knees and sob after her precious vehicle was destroyed._

_Taffyta grabbed Vanellope’s hoodie and yank her face to face, smiling. “How does it feel? Losing what you love the most before your own eyes? Because that’s what you’ve done to me, glitch.” Vanellope gasped as Taffyta sounded different, her eyes and teeth turned yellow and her face turned white, as she looked like a familiar person. Taffyta grinned widely and gave a thumbs up. “Stay sweet and…Turbo-tastic.”_

**SPLASH!**

Vanellope woke up in surprise as she found herself on a chair in the garage with her four adult friends looking over her with concern, her face was soaked in water and Pyro had a jug in his hand. “Are you okay, kid?” he asked.

“Where’s Lickety-Split?!” She yelled with wide, frightened eyes.

“Calm down! Your car’s under maintenance, kid! Remember?” Debbie replied. Vanellope realized that the girl was right, her car was under maintenance after the crash in the race.

Felony placed a hand on her shoulder. “Are you okay, V? You had us all scared.”

Vanellope looked down at her wet clothes. “Y-Yeah, I’m fine. But what was that for?”

“Sorry we had to wake you up like that, kid. But we came to find you shouting like crazy in your sleep.” Debbie said with concern. “You were not waking up either, so we had to do that.”

Vanellope glanced down and wept her face. “It’s…it’s okay, I’m sorry, it was…well, it was a nightmare I guess.” Vanellope replied, glitching.

“It’s not even night, kid.” Butcher Boy stated. “Are you sure you’re fine? If there’s anything troubling you, you can tell us.”

“No, Butch, it’s fine, I swear. it’s just…I think I can just use some time alone.” Vanellope said, still glitching in distress as she quickly rushed out of the room.

“What’s up with her now?” Debbie asked.

“Relax, the kid has a lot of stuff going on in her mind. It’s common in this age.” Butcher Boy said wisely. “What Vanellope needs right now is a bit of inner peace, which she can attain by finding her true self through the way of meditation and spirituality along with…”

“…Here we go again.” Pyro groaned.

Vanellope rushed out of the room, only to run into Shank and Taffyta. “Yo, V. We were just coming to see you, what’s up?” Shank asked with a passionate smile. Vanellope glitched again and hesitated.

“Y-yeah, sure. Never been better…”

Taffyta gave her a look, observing her wet clothes. “Why does it look like you slipped and fell into a bathtub?”

“W-what are you talking about? I just spilled some water on myself, that’s all.” Vanellope muttered. She still could not forget Taffyta’s terrifying actions she saw in her dream, the look and laugh she gave her while destroying her beloved car.

Shank knelt to her and started, “We just heard that you were kinda upset after the accident in the race. So… we thought some offerings would cheer you up.” The older woman and the strawberry-themed girl shared a smile as they offered her a nicely decorated basket. “We made you a cherry pie.” Vanellope’s eyes widened. “We baked it together, cuz’ your friends do have good knowledge of cooking.” Shank said and smirked at Taffyta who smirked back.

“Well, especially Jubileena.” Taffyta replied before turning back to Vanellope. “Come on, princess, it doesn’t have cherry bombs hidden in it. You can have it.” Vanellope took the basket and looked up at Shank who smiled.

“…Thanks.” Vanellope finally said. Shank patted her shoulder before standing up.

“Don’t be so hard one yourself, kid.” Shank said before she looked back at Taffyta. “Come on, Taff. Let’s go for some more practice racing.” Taffyta nodded. “See you later, V.”

Vanellope just waved. _‘What was that all about?’_

“See, that wasn’t so bad, was it?” Shank asked as she and Taffyta walked down the street.

“I don’t know, I just did it because you asked, Shank.” Taffyta replied huffily. “Otherwise I wouldn’t throw miss selfish, arrogant princess a waffle.” She muttered.

“Hey, but you see, it never hurts to make someone happy. I’m sure Vanellope will have better outlook on things with you now.”

Taffyta rolled her eyes. “Yeah, like a little piece pie was gonna change her. But I’m sure she’ll enjoy the little bonus in her gift.” Taffyta muttered and giggled to herself impishly.

“You said something, Taff?”

“Nope.”

Vanellope walked back into the room, still confused. “Huh? That’s weird, how can Muttonfudge change so much a suddenly?” she wondered. She looked down at the basket of cherry pie. “Whatever,” she shrugged as she sat down and opened the basket and started cutting the pie, only to be surprised.

 ** _“Cherry bomb!”_** came a voice out of nowhere as the cherry exploded, scattering cream and smolder all over Vanellope’s face.

Vanellope groaned and rolled her eyes. “This is gonna be a long week.”


	4. Chapter 4

 

Vanellope stared at the smoggy sky as she lay in her hammock outside her garage, unable to sleep. It was kinda hard to believe the huge, sudden change that had just occurred had affected so much. A moment ago she was having the time of her life in her dream game as if there was nothing more she would ever want, the same game now felt so awkward. Every time she thought about racing, the thought of her former bullies being in the same game came into her mind. The thought had gone so far that it had even distracted her during the race.

_“Good thing your little friends saved the day.”_ She cringed at recalling Shank’s words from that day. Her ‘friends’ had to save the day for her, the same ‘friends’ that had made her life a living nightmare for 15 years. She remembered when Taffyta smirked at her in her old mocking way, just like when she used torment her, and also the same one she had seen in her dream.

“I can't believe it’s just been like a week, and I’m already so sick of this.” She muttered to herself. “Guess I gotta do something.”

Vanellope then remembered Taffyta’s words; she is not the president or a princess anymore and therefore has no power over them, there’s nothing she can do about them being here than to accept it. She could talk to Shank but then she thought about Ralph. No, she couldn’t disappoint him, all he wanted was her to befriend the racers… which was most likely impossible. He was certainly asking for too much. If she never got along with them in 6 years, how in the name of monkey milk is she supposed to do it now? Especially when they probably don’t like her abandoning _Sugar Rush_ and causing it to shut down again.

Her mind raced faster, what was there she could do then? How about she run away? No, that’s ridiculous, there was no way she could jump ship again, she was not betraying Shank. Then… get them leave somehow? Checked, it was impossible. She wished she could just get _rid_ of Taffyta, so that her dream paradise could be perfect again.

Vanellope’s eyes widened as she realized her last thought. She shook her head hard; sure, she hated Taffyta with whole heart, but wishing her dead was just wrong…wasn’t it? Knowing there’s nothing better than just forgetting everything, she sighed and moved to her side, closing her eyes and trying to force herself into a sleep. But as soon as she closed her eyes, words rang in her mind.

_‘You’ll never be a racer, because you’re a glitch, and that’s all you’ll ever be.’_

_‘I told you, you’re just an accident waiting to happen.’_

_‘Aww…hey, it’s not your fault you’re worthless and was never meant to exist, or is it?’_

_‘Nothing but a waste of coding. When will you let us live in peace?’_

_‘…Just a worthless GLITCH.’_

Vanellope woke up, panting. Her mind definitely wasn’t gonna let her sleep. She groaned as she hopped off her hammock, stuffing her hands in her pockets and walking away. She often used some driving to clear her mind whenever she had trouble sleeping, but since her car was still under maintenance, she decided to just go out for a walk. As she passed through a garage, she heard some laughs and cheers. Curious, she opened the shutter and peeked in to see her fellow racers partying, which they often did; only, the candy racers were there as well.

“Oh, hey look! It’s little V!” Pyro who was woozy upon his last drink exclaimed. Vanellope was about to sneak out but realized she was seen, so she gave them an awkward wave.

“Wanna join us, kiddo? Come on, there’s enough for you too.” Felony offered. Vanellope shook her head.

“I’m…I’m afraid not. Thanks for asking, but Ralph wouldn’t like me drinking that stuff.” She replied, stepping back before Jubileena and Crumbelina dragged her back in.

“Oh, come on, Vanny. I know we haven’t gotten along much, but since we’re gonna live here together why don’t we actually try and get to know each other better?” Jubileena suggested.

“Uh, yeah sure. But-”

“Now, you should try the milkshake Candlehead made, it’s really amazing.” Felony said. Candlehead giggled. “Pyro, will you get one for the kid?”

Pyro grinned and walked back to the table, still woozy. Vanellope noticed that Taffyta and Shank weren’t present there and wondered where they were.

“Look, Vanellope, we are not mad that you left Sugar Rush in case you think that.” Rancis said. “It is okay if you wanted to follow your dreams, we respect your decision.”

“Yeah, we wouldn’t have gotten to come into this awesome game if it wasn’t for you.” Candlehead added as she tugged Vanellope’s sleeve. Vanellope gave a small awkward smile and nodded.

“Now there’s no princess-president stuff here, we could actually be friends, right Vanny?”

“Yeah, of course.” Vanellope replied, still trying to figure out if they actually mean it or are just pretending. Pyro handed her a glass of strawberry milkshake.

“Thanks, guys.” She replied, actually starting to feel warm. But still, she was sure if Taffyta was here she would’ve surely said otherwise. Letting go of the thought, Vanellope decided to live the moment and drank her milkshake in just one gulp, letting out a burp.

“Wow, that was a cool one.” Little Debbie commented, Vanellope giggled.

“Still not half as close as Ralph’s though. He has the biggest record.”

“Wanna have some more?” she gave her some more milkshake, that too Vanellope finished in no time. After 4 glasses, her stomach was finally full.

Vanellope muttered, “Ok, I think I broke my own burp record.”

“Looks like you liked it.” Candlehead said. Suddenly, Vanellope started to feel weird, she thought it was because her tummy was full until she started to feel lightheaded and dizzy. Vanellope put a hand on her forehead and groaned. “What’s wrong?”

“N…Nothing, I’m fine. It’s just…my head hurts.” She muttered. “I kinda…feel like puking.”

“What?”

“What was in that milkshake?!”” Vanellope asked, annoyed as she grabbed her spinning head. Everyone looked at Candlehead.

“Nothing, it’s just a normal strawberry milkshake.” She replied.

“Wait,” Felony said before slapping Pyro who had fallen asleep back to his senses. “Pyro! You didn’t mix the wine into the milkshake, did you?”

 “What? No…I, uh, don’t remember.” Pyro mumbled, confused. “Did I do something wrong?” Felony slapped herself.

“Oh no, Vanellope, are you feeling okay?” Rancis asked, placing a hand on her shoulder as she dazed her head around awkwardly.

“Why does that matter to you?!” Vanellope asked, still annoyed by the extreme headache and the weird feeling she was having. “I’m not a diaper baby, GA-DOY!”

“Hey, I’m just trying to be nice.”

Vanellope stood up. “Oh, yeah, of course, you’re _‘tryin’ to be nice’_. How ‘bout this? You guys are just pretending t’be nice, after all that’s all you have ever done so far!” Everyone stared at her, startled. “You know wha’? I know, everythin’ ya’ guys just proclaimed was no truth! You guys are just tryin’ to do nothin’ but look innocent in front of everyone in this game like you did with those two dorks you consider your parents! Do you think I don’t know you, but I know you all still just see me as nothing but a _worthless glitch!_ ” With rage visible in her eyes, she started to glitch uncontrollably as she spoke the last part.

Everyone was startled at her words. “What are you even talking about?”

“Lemme explain,” Vanellope glitched up on the table, struggling to keep herself from falling due to the dizziness as she continued with her speech. “Ya’ guys pretended to be my friends for 6 years in Sugar Rush just cuz’ I was in power back then! And now you’re are showing me sympathy cuz’ I’m not da president anymore. Well, guess what? President or not, I still don’t need you guys’ sympathy! I never got any in 15 years and I never need it! And now I’m the one being called selfish for finding happiness in my life.” With that Vanellope lost her balance and seated herself down on the table, glitching. “And I also know Taffyta is the one who persuaded you all with that.” Everyone just stared at her, startled by the outburst she just had.

Felony spoke up. “V, I suggest you need some rest. You’re feeling sick cuz’ of the drink, let me take you to your-”

“Nope!” Vanellope stretched out a hand and got back to her feet. “I gotta have a _talk_ with miss Muttonfudge. She’ll pay for everything!” With that she glitched out of the room.

Everyone stayed silent until Swizzle pointed at Rancis. “All your fault.”

“Hey! I didn’t do anything! I just asked if she was okay!” Rancis defended.

“You pushed her, man. Why were you questioning her so much when you knew she was drunk?”

“Well, it was Candles’ milkshake!”

“Hey!” Candlehead exclaimed. “I didn’t put that _drinking stuff_ into her milkshake, Pyro did!”

Pyro gulped. “I wasn’t in my senses, okay? I didn’t do it on purpose!” Pyro said. “Butcher Boy gave me too much to drink, it’s not my fault.” Butcher Boy folded his arms and gave him a stern look.

“Dude, seriously, that’s no good. You know, accusing someone for your own mistake.” Butcher Boy replied offended but politely. “I just offered you a drink, I didn’t ask you to gulp the whole bottle. Learn to accept your mistakes, Pyro.”

“Can we stop fighting and do something about V? She just marched out like that, we gotta do something.” Felony pointed out.

Snowanna folded her arms. “To be honest, after everything she just said I don’t really wanna help her anymore.” She said, getting nods from the other candy racers as well.

“How can you say that? She went up to Taffyta doozy and all, I’m afraid it’s not gonna be good.” Candlehead denied.

“You know, I’d say we better just leave it to Shank.” Butcher Boy spoke up. “V is pretty close with her, she’ll handle it better.”

“Yeah, I think that’s right.”

Candlehead stood up. “Fine with you all then, but I’ll go see Taffyta. She’s my friend.” They all watched Candlehead rush outside.

“What’s up with her?” Asked Felony.

“Taffyta’s sidekick.” Muttered Swizzle, sitting back down.

__

Taffyta was out in the ground with Shank, practicing in the new car she had gotten. It was a pure pink car with white lollipop designs, similar to her old cart in _Sugar Rush._

“Great, now you shift it again like that and there you go, that’s how it works.” Shank instructed as Taffyta followed it, memorizing every step as Shank was teaching her a new move. “See? You’re on it.”

“Wow, that’s pretty cool.” Taffyta commented as she followed her instructions. “Gotta say this car is real cool, way cooler than even my old Pink Lightning.”

“Yeah.” Shank replied. “I must say you’re a fast-learner, Taff. V keeps on missing that step.”

Taffyta smirked. “Oh, so there’s something miss former fancy princess-president can fail to do in racing as well? Well, other than glitching her butt out of the race track of course.”

Shank raised an eyebrow. “You enjoy mocking her, don’t you? That’s the reason you two can't get along.”

Taffyta shrugged. “Who knows? I’d say she’s way too arrogant to realize her own mistakes. You saw what happened yesterday.” Shank rolled her eyes and shook her head. “Never mind. I think I’m gonna do this one more time to see if I got it.” Taffyta pushed the accelerator, as soon as the car began running, she noticed a small figure in front of her car. She quickly stomped the brakes, the car stopping inches away from the person that was revealed to be Vanellope, staring at her sternly.

Taffyta panted. “What’s wrong with you, glitch? You wanna die or what?”

“We need to talk, Muttonfudge.” She replied.

“Can't you see I’m busy here? I don’t have time to spare with you.” Taffyta scoffed.

Vanellope glitched upon the hood of the car, glaring down at her. “I said we need to talk, so we talk.” Taffyta glared back.

“I said I’m not interested in talking to you right now, you’re no boss of me. Now get your feet off my car, Miss. Self-Important Grump.” Vanellope pulled out a gun. Taffyta’s eyes widened.

“Call me that again.”

“Woah! Hey, are you crazy?! Put that thing down, Vanellope!” Taffyta shrieked in panic and realized that Vanellope was acting weird.

“Then talk.”

“O-okay! But where’d you get that thing?!” Taffyta got off the car and so did Vanellope.

“It’s for a part of my role in the game. Pretty cool, huh? Now enough with the yackety-yak, you really think you’ve achieved anything by persuading everyone against me?”

“What are you talking about?”

“Oh, don’t act all innocent. I know everyone is just pretending to be nice in front of Shank and her Gang to show how innocent you guys are, the same thing you’ve done with Felix and Calhoun. I know you well, you can't fool me, you guys really haven’t changed a bit.”

Taffyta glared back at her. “Like you’re the one to talk! It’s not my fault everyone hates you for betraying _Sugar Rush_ and going Turbo!” Vanellope shot her gun in the air. Taffyta jumped back and recoiled.

“Did you just call me _Turbo?”_ Vanellope narrowed her eyes coldly. “Did you, Taffyta?” Taffyta shook her head. “You know you die outside your game you don’t regenerate, right?”

“Why are you doing this? What’ve I even done to you?”

“What have you done? Like all the torment and torture I’ve suffered in the early 15 years was done by somebody else?” Vanellope asked as she glitched.

“But…that was a long time ago, I thought you forgave us for that, Vanellope.” Taffyta whispered.

“Forgave you? The only reason I didn’t kill you was for the game’s sake. But now I wish I’d executed you for good when I was in power.” Vanellope said. “ _Slaughter Race_ is my real home, it’s what makes me feel like myself, and it doesn’t need you so get the fudge outta here.”

“Nobody’s getting out of anywhere.” Came a voice. Vanellope and Taffyta turned to see Shank standing by with her arms folded. “V, _Slaughter Race_ may be your home, but now it’s their home as well, you _have to_ accept it.”

“Can't ya see we’re having a talk right here, Shank? Mind your own business.”

“ _Talk?_ Are you crazy or what? Why are you acting like that?”

Vanellope turned back to Taffyta. “You wanna know what it means to go Turbo? You want me to do what Turbo did to me? You’re lucky I’m not him because I wouldn’t have hesitated in snapping every single wire outta’ yer little, candy-coated miserable code.”

Taffyta felt tears forming. “I can't believe you can be that much of a jerk.”

“At least I’m not a cry baby like you, cuz’ that’s all you’ll ever be. And there’s no place for crybabies in this game.”

“Vanellope, stop this instant.” Shank said sternly and picked up the kid. Vanellope glitched as she struggled to escape. Candlehead arrived at the scene and saw this.

“Let go of me, Shank!”

It was becoming difficult for Shank to hold on her as she kept on glitching furiously. “No, you’re not well! Come on with me right now!”

Vanellope managed to glitch out of her grip. “I’m not gonna leave Taffyta for what she has done to me!” Vanellope fired her gun.

“Taffyta!” Candlehead leapt on Taffyta and shoving them both behind her car as the black-haired racer kept on firing.

“Candlehead?” Taffyta asked, surprised.

“Get outta the way, Candlehead, it’s time she pays for her mistakes!” Vanellope warned. Shank finally managed to snatch the weapon from the kid. “Hand it over, Shank, stop butting in!”

“If you don’t stop this instant, I’ll have you sent back to the arcade!” Shank warned. Vanellope’s rage settled down as her eyes widened.

“You w-what?”

“I know this place feels like home to you, but if you are not willing to share it with anyone who feels the same, you’re not worth it!” The adult racer stroke back. “We treat everyone like family here. So either learn to behave yourself unless you want me to send you back to your old arcade _forever!”_

Vanellope took a few steps back. “You…you can't do that…you can't choose _her_ over me.” She pointed to the blond-haired racer who was peeking from behind her car along with the candle-headed girl.

“I’m the one who invited you to stay, but if you can't compromise to follow the one rule we have here, I can ask you to leave as well.” Shank could sense the pain in the kid’s eyes; she hated to say that, Vanellope was a little sister to her but this was not what she wanted her little sister to be. The adult woman kept on a cold look. “Not everything is always supposed to be your way, kid. So, learn to accept the changes.”

Vanellope glitched several time with a look of hurt on her face until her hurtful look changed into a glare. “Oh, I got it why you’re saying that, Shank. She changed your mind as well. You like hanging out with her, don’t you?” she asked, Shank looked at her, surprised. She started to get concerned as Vanellope’s glitches started to become more violent. “Tha-a-a-t-t’s why y-you chose he-e-r over me while I-I thought yo-o-u-u wer-r-re my fri-i-i-i-e-e-nd.” She spoke between glitches. Shank widened her eyes as Vanellope shrieked as she glitched hard before she felt a sharp pain in her head and collapsed.

“Vanellope!”

__

Vanellope woke up from her deep snooze and looked around. Everything seemed blur and she was still feeling a bit woozy. “Ugh…” she groaned as she sat up and rubbed her eyes, seeing that she was in a small room.

“Oh, you’re awake. You are feeling okay, Vanny?” Vanellope turned to see Candlehead next to her.

“W…what happened? Why does my head hurt so bad?”

“You got tipsy over some root beer milkshake last night and started acting and glitching all crazy until you passed out. Do you remember anything?” Candlehead asked. Vanellope shook her head. “Well, of course you don’t, you weren’t in your senses at all.”

“Is she awake, Candlehead?” Shank asked as she entered.

“Yeah, she’s up.”

“Okay, thanks for taking care of her.” Shank said with courtesy as the girl walked out of the room. “You doing okay there, V?” she asked with concern as she took a seat next to the candy racer and took her hand. Vanellope replied with a nod. “You had us all worried sick last night. Do you remember anything?”

Vanellope rubbed her forehead and groaned as she thought. “All I remember is that I couldn’t sleep and so I went for a walk, and everyone invited me to their party…and then I drank a buttload of milkshake or something, I don’t know what it had in it…then I don’t remember.” Shank hummed and nodded. “Candlehead said I was acting all tipsy or something, did I do something wrong, Shank?”

Shank breathed out. “The kids told me that you started yelling out everything that was in your head and then you angrily marched up to Taffyta and tried to attack her,” she took out the gun and showed her, Vanellope gasped.

“No, that can't be true.” Vanellope whispered, unable to believe that she actually threatened Taffyta, she started glitching again.

“You could’ve killed her.” Shank said in a stern voice. Vanellope looked down with her eyes shut. “You have weaponry for stopping players, not actually killing people. You know if something happens to them here, they won't regenerate, right?”

“I know, I didn’t do anything on purpose, okay?”

“That’s not the point, all this happened because you have these stuff in your mind, because you can't keep yourself from despising their presence. You need to have a control on your temper. Just think how Ralph will react if he gets to know about this.” Vanellope looked up at her with worry. “Look, I’m not scolding you, it’s for your own good, little sister. This all won't be resolved until you let go of this hatred and accept the fact.”

Vanellope looked back down. “Yeah, I know. I’m sorry, okay?”

“You don’t have to apologize to me, you should go and apologize to Taffyta and everyone else for your behavior.”

Vanellope looked at with uncertainty. “But Shank-”

“Look, I’m not telling you what to do, kid. You’re wise enough to take your own decisions.” She stood up. “Just like you took the decision of leaving your game and got it unplugged.” She mumbled as she started to walk away and stopped at the door. “We’ll be online in a while; and your car is finished with the maintenance. Get it ready and be there on time.” Vanellope nodded as Shank started to walk out.

“Um, Shank?” she called again.

“Yeah?” The adult racer looked back at her.

“Don’t let Ralph know about all this. Please, I don’t want him to get worried.” She pleaded with concern. Shank raised an eyebrow.

“I won't. But only if you promise you’ll behave yourself and treat the racers better. At least if you don’t want _them_ to let Ralph know.” She claimed. Vanellope sighed and nodded in agreement, knowing she had no other choice. “Alright then.” With that she left.

Vanellope sighed to herself. She had never seen Shank this disappointed before, she couldn’t stand seeing her like this; and there was no way she was gonna have Ralph disappointed as well. “Maybe it’s better I just do what she wants.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Sorry for any grammar glitches.
> 
> Don’t forget to leave reviews


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: I apologize for the delay, I was about to update this earlier but couldn’t due to some reasons. Thank you all for your reviews, I’m glad you all can keep up with the concept of this story. Also, I think last chapter’s gun scene surprised a lot of people heh ‘^^  
> This is the longest chapter by far so hope you forgive the delay. Enjoy!

* * *

"Thank you everyone for showing up in today's Bad Anon and sharing your thoughts with us." Announced Clyde as everyone gave an applause of courtesy. "So, as we are aware, the arcade is remaining closed for 3 days."

"Yeah, l heard Stan Litwak is going out to see his brother." Said Bison. "It's rare for him to keep the arcade closed though."

"Litwak doesn't really prefer handling his work to somebody else." Ralph added in, slumping in his seat lazily. "He thinks they'll mess up with the games or something."

"So, what do you all plan for off days?" Clyde questioned. The villains started murmuring to each other. "Settle down, please. What do you say, Zangief?"

"I'll be reading some more books tonight. I've crushed several skulls like sparrow's eggs between thighs this week," The wrestler slapped his thighs. "I think some good literature books would really help."

"Very well. What about you, Zombie?"

"Don't know…maybe eat… more brains," Zombie shuttered. "…or burgers. I loved…when I ate… last weekend."

"Speaking of which, who'll be hosting tomorrow night's weekend party?" Clyde asked.

"Wasn't it Ralph's turn this time?" Reminded Cyborg. Ralph rubbed the back of his neck.

"I'd love to guys, but I actually have plans to go to the Internet to meet Vanellope this time. I've been planning to take Felix and Calhoun with me too, to check on if the other kids have been doing well in their new home." Ralph replied. "They finally got a home and company since  _Sugar Rush_  got unplugged months ago."

"Are you sure staying there is okay for them? No offense, Ralph, we don't know what these  _online games_  are like but this really wouldn't have been needed if the unplugging of  _Sugar Rush_ had been prevented in the first place."

Ralph scoffed and tilted back into his chair. "Oh, come on, guys. The kids have gotten a home, that's what's important. After all, the unplugging wasn't anyone's fault, okay?" He replied. "We all had really great memories with  _Sugar Rush,_ but there always comes a time every game has to go down y'know."

"Do you really mean to say  _Sugar Rush's_  unplugging wasn't because of Vanellope's abandonment?" The orange glowing Pacman ghost inquired gravely. Ralph gave him an offended look.

"Vanellope didn't abandon it, Clyde. Yeah, maybe she did leave it, but she was one of 15 racers, so none of us guessed this could happen."

"We actually did, you just didn't listened."

"Ugh, but the kids have gotten a home, right? That's what's important. And Vanellope is totally getting along with them as well, so what's the problem?" The wrecker defended. "What's wrong with a little kid following her dreams?"

"There's nothing wrong with having dreams, Ralph. But abandoning your duties to fulfill them? It's not exactly what a video game character is supposed to do." He replied. "Think about all the other NPCs that have lost their homes."

"Turbo did it and look what happened with him." Added Satine, stirring his coffee.

" _Turbo?!_  Are you guys seriously saying she's gone Turbo?!" the wrecker was annoyed.

"Going against the program, abandoning your game, getting it unplugged twice and then finding another one to live in," Bison said sternly, dipping a cookie in his tea. "I call that Turbo, Ralph."

Zombie straightened up. "Bison right…leaving game never result go-OD…unplugging cause people lose their homes… spread misery and social despair…it's Turbo…"

"Not if everyone's happy in  _Slaughter Race_ now. Do you guys have any idea what Vanellope has been through? The kid was trapped inside her own game for over a decade, neglected and bullied her whole life and kept from achieving what she deserved! Does she not deserve even a little bit of happiness after what she's been through?" everyone stared silently as the wreck continued. "Vanellope didn't leave out of hatred or anything, she's sorry for  _Sugar Rush_  and so she's willing to amend things up with everyone else, in fact she already has! And you guys just wait until I confirm it, so none of you can ever blame her again for being irresponsible and…  _going Turbo_." Ralph hissed. Everyone stared at him blankly. Clyde realized Ralph was losing his temper, it was better not pushing him further.

"Fine, brother. We respect your views. But rules are created for a reason, to maintain harmony among all characters. Whether they're a hero, villain, NPC, Fighter, or a Racer, rules are meant to be followed by everyone."

"Remember, one game at a time applies to everyone, Ralph." Zangief said in a rather friendly tone as Ralph rolled his eyes and scoffed.

"Okay, now let's close up with the bad guy affirmation." Clyde announced as everyone got up and held hands.

" _I'm bad and that's good, I will never be good and that's not bad, there's no one I rather be than me."_

* * *

Ralph walked out of the Pacman portal. He was still upset about the argument he had to make with his friends, but it was not the first time after all, he almost spent every day arguing over the certain topic.  _'Come on, cheer up. You're going to see Vanellope soon, and there's no way you're greeting her with an upset face. She's cooperating, and so can you.'_ He kept telling himself. ' _She's cooperating, and so can you, remember.'_

His mental converse was interrupted by an alarm sound. "UGH!"

"Name?" Asked Surge Protector.

"Tapper!"

" _Name?"_

"Wreck-it Ralph! Can't you see?!"

"Just doing my job, sir. Where are you coming from?"

"Wrecking your house!" The Surge gave him a stern look. "Pacman!" the wrecker gestured to the portal before sighing.

"Are you carrying anything with you?"

"Actually, no this time."

"Where will you be heading?"

"Uh…the Internet." The Surge gave him a look again. "No, really. I am going to the Internet…to meet Vanellope."

He sighed and shook his head before looking back to his clipboard. "Return soon. Anything to declare?"

"I still hate you."

"Still get that a lot. Proceed." The Surge disappeared, Ralph stepped forward to see Calhoun standing there.

"Had fun messing with the Surge again?" she asked.

"Sometimes I feel like he stops me on purpose just to make me cross." The wrecker replied in an annoyed voice.

"How was your meeting, Wreck-it?"

Ralph looked away, not wanting to talk about it. "Uh, you know, the usual again. Anyway, you ready to hop into the Internet? Where's Felix? He isn't with you?"

Calhoun rolled her eyes with a sigh. "He started freaking out about the kids  _again_ , I told him to not worry, they're okay… but no. So I left him until he calms down himself."

"Ugh, okay, let's just pick him before we head to the 'net." He paused, thinking of something. "On second thought…maybe we could stop by at BurgerTime for a moment too."

* * *

**Meanwhile,**

"Taffyta?" Vanellope asked as she peeked inside Taffyta's room.

"Go away, Vanellope." Taffyta replied in a low voice. Vanellope sighed and just entered.

"Taffyta, just listen to me-"

"What is there to listen? I've seen everything, just leave me alone now."

"I didn't mean for all that stuff to happen, trust me. I wasn't in my senses."

"That doesn't matter! You said all that because that's what you think about us!" Taffyta busted out, Vanellope looked down. "You nearly killed me! You even said you were going to…do me  _Turbo_!"

"I would never-"

"Yes, you would, you said it yourself! You came to shoot me with and said you wish you'd executed me when you were in power. If it wasn't was Shank and Candlehead, I would've died permanently and it'd be your fault!"

Vanellope huffed. "There's no way I would do that. Do I look coo-coo crazy?"

"You just said you weren't in your senses, who knows you could have?" Taffyta replied and turned away. "And yeah, I think you definitely can be that coo-coo crazy." Vanellope sighed.

"Look, I'm not here to argue, I'm here to apologize." She confessed, Taffyta turned back to look at her. "Sorry for whatever happened last night, okay? That wasn't intentional, I swear. All I ask for is that you don't let Ralph know." Taffyta raised an eyebrow. "Look, his feelings means everything to me."

Taffyta folded her arms and narrowed her eyes. "Ah yes, you wouldn't have left him in dust if his feelings actually ever meant _anything_  to you. And if you think a simple 'sorry' is gonna fix everything between us, you most certainly are wrong, Von Schweetz." She turned away. Vanellope glared as she watched the strawberry-hatted girl walk away.

' _What's wrong with this s'more? Does she really have be a total jerk all the time?'_

"You're acting like it was almost the end of the world. Don't forget I excused you for being a jerk to me for 15 years and didn't punish you for it even though I could." Vanellope spoke up, Taffyta rolled her eyes.

"Oh, yes, you were generous and I'm supposed to owe you my whole life over it, yeah?" the pink racer said sarcastically.

"What is wrong with you?! You want me to feel guilty, and now that I'm trying to amend things up, you even deny my apology!" Vanellope asked, glitching as she was totally agitated again.

"My apology never meant anything to you in 6 years, so neither does yours to me now,  _President._ I'm no longer interested in amending anything with you." Taffyta admitted. "In fact, who would want to be friends with someone who's been nothing but a traitor to her whole arcade?" Vanellope glitched with a grunt, hurt at her words.

"Huh! That's…that's just what you think." The still-glitching racer huffed. "And I don't care about what you think." Taffyta folded her arms and shook her head.

"Everybody thinks that."

"No, they don't. They can't, because not everyone is a jerk like you."

"Deny the truth as much you want, Von Schweetz, it's not gonna change it. It's too late to amend things up. You ditched  _Sugar Rush_ and ruined everyone's lives, and now you deserve the same." The blond-haired racers hissed and tossed a lollipop at Vanellope's face. Vanellope gritted her teeth, glitching constantly as she tried not to lose her temper again. "If we can't start over, then you can't either."

"Yo kiddos!" Little Debbie suddenly entered and noticed the heated situation. "Um…did I come at the wrong time or something? You two seems to be busy." Taffyta shook her head.

"Nah, it's good."

"Well, guess who's here to see you. It's your ol' friends back from your arcade." Vanellope jolted her head up in shock.

"Ralph's here?" she asked.  _'What am I gonna say to him?'_

* * *

"Don't you think this game's a bit…um…too intense?" Felix asked as he watched a car being thrown out of nowhere and exploding into pieces before even hitting the ground, while a nearby building was on fire. "Quite dystopia they have in here."

Calhoun smirked, amused at the environment. "Nope. This is clearly perfect." She poked him playfully as the fixer chuckled nervously. "Now, where are our little soldiers?"

"MOM! DAD!" They heard a cheer as a bunch of kids pounced over them, Calhoun caught them while the fixer collapsed to the ground with Candlehead, Crumbelina and Minty over him.

"Dad, I missed you." Said Crumbelina.

"I missed you too, Crumbs." Felix repositioned his hat before smiling at her. "Candlehead, your candle looks lovely, sweetie."

"I know!" The girl beamed. "Because I'm de _lighted_!" Felix chuckled.

"Mom." Taffyta tugged Calhoun from behind with a smile.

"Taffyta." Calhoun knelt down and embraced the kid into a loving hug. "I hope you didn't cried without us."

"I did not, mom."

"Very well then, soldier. Because your father could hardly have any control on himself." She said and gave Felix a look who chuckled uneasily.

"Mom, you've gotta see my  _Bloody-Molasses!"_ Swizzle exclaimed. Calhoun's eyes widened.

"Jeepers! What are you even talking about, Swizzle?" Felix gasped.

"Er…it's the name of the car, dad." Jublileena replied, rolling her eyes at him.

Vanellope watched from distance at her fellow racers with their adoptive parents. She sighed, they all looked so happy. She wished she could see Ralph that happy, but sooner or later, he will have to know the truth. She stuffed her hands in her pockets and had just started to walk away until someone tapped her shoulder. Before she could even turn to see who it was, she was embraced by two giant hands into a hug.

"I gotcha, Fart Feathers!"

"Ralph, let go, I can't breath!" She exclaimed but also at the same time chuckled as he playfully tickled her.

"I missed you so much!"

Vanellope smiled. "I missed ya' too, stench vessel." She replied. "And yeah, you're still a real  _stench_  vessel."

"You've been doing good with the other kids?" Ralph asked with a grin. Vanellope looked away and glitched.

"Y-Yeah. Definitely, they're…very nice."

"What's wrong, kid? Why are you glitching like that, is there a problem?" Vanellope shook her head. "Look, if there's something wrong, you can tell me."

"N-nothing's wrong. It's all fine, I told you." She assured and glitched back down. Ralph was hesitating but didn't push her anymore. "But you suddenly here with Felix and Sarge? Is everything fine?" She asked. Suddenly, a trace of hope appeared in her eyes. "Wait, are you guys here to take the racers back, or something…?"

Ralph laughed and rubbed the back of his hair. "Oh no, no. The arcade was closed for 3 days, Litwak's gone to meet his relative or so I guess, that's what I heard. So, I thought to give you a visit; and thought to bring those two dorks with me too. Felix was going real crazy to see his kids…like,  _literally_  crazy." Vanellope's only trace of hope also dropped, she sighed and put her hands in her pocket, muttering in frustration. "You said something?"

"Well, you could've called me up." She said.

"Um, I thought to, but then I thought I would surprise you, you liked it last time, so…"

"Yeah, like my life isn't already bizarre enough…" She muttered under her breath.

"Hey," Ralph knelt down to her and started taking something out. "You've been so nice to your ol' candy-coated friends. So, I thought it would be uncool to come empty-handed. So, I brought you something." He offered her a burger. "It's fresh, straight from BurgerTime, your favorite."

"Oh, you didn't need to, Ralph…" She took the offering, although this was already killing her inside, she definitely didn't deserve it after everything that happened last night. "I…can't…"

"Kid," He placed a hand on her shoulder. "I know it's hard to get along with people who did you wrong. You have a lot of bad memories with them, and you're still a little uncomfortable. But still, you kept that aside and acted like a real responsible president, more than you ever did in  _Sugar Rush."_  He said with a smile. "Which assures that I totally made the right decision letting you stay here."

Vanellope sighed and sadly looked at the burger before folding and putting it into her pocket as she began walking with Ralph to the others.

"Vanellope, how are you doing, sweetie?" Felix asked as he removed his hat and shook her hand cheerfully. "It's been so long since we last met, young lady, hasn't it?"

"Uh…yeah, I'm doing good." She replied, trying to sound as glad as possible. "The game's been really busy in the last few months, so I wasn't really able to visit."

"Yeah, she's right." Shank said as she walked up. "The number of players online has been impenetrably dense. By the way, I'm Shank, you're welcomed in  _Slaughter Race_."

Felix took off his hat again. "Oh, I'm Fix-it Felix Jr., Ma'am, from the game  _Fix-it Felix Jr._ And this is my wife," he gestured to Calhoun, who gave an unwavering smile.

"Sergeant Tamora Jean Calhoun from  _Hero's Duty_." She introduced. Ralph and Vanellope snickered quietly and elbowed each other at the word.

"I know you, Sergeant. I've heard about you, you're a valiant soldier and I salute you for that." Shank replied with a friendly smile and saluted the sergeant who did the same. "And you too, Mr. Fix-it. I've heard you're a kind man and, well, a good father." She said and tucked her hair behind.

Felix blushed and chuckled nervously. "Definitely, ma'am. You're…you're a lovely woman, and…and that high-definition is extraordinary." Taffyta rolled her eyes and Calhoun glared as Felix kept on chuckling. "By the way, I love your game, quite dystopic but it's beautiful in its own way…"

Shank chuckled. "I know, we may be a motley crew, but our hearts ring true and we treat everyone like family. Well, I need to go back to look out for players. See ya'." Shank finger-gunned before walking away. Taffyta gave Calhoun a smile before following Shank. Felix stumbled to Ralph and clutched his hat tightly.

"Jiminey Jaminey, she almost gave me the honey glow, Ralph!" He wore his hat. "Did you see her? She is wonderful."

"Um, Felix, you're a father of 14 kids, remember?" Ralph said and gave him a look.

"So what? I don't have anything in mind." The fixer said as he kept on looking at her. "Ooh, the graphics are glorious!" Ralph shook his head in annoyance and looked aside, only to see that Vanellope wasn't there.

* * *

Vanellope glitched off into the alley, sighing to herself. It was hard to lie to Ralph, he was so happy to know that she had gotten along with the kids, while actually she had not; in fact, it was now harder after what had happened last night. She couldn't tell him, she couldn't break his heart. Also, another thing she wondered was that Taffyta really didn't open her mouth before her parents. Yeah, she had told her not to but she hadn't really expected a jerk like Taffyta to listen.  _'Wonder what she has in mind…'_  With the thought still going, she entered the garage, only to find the four recolors: Citrusella, Nougetsia, Torvald and Sticky sitting there and having a talk.

"Not hanging out with Felix and Calhoun, are you?" Vanellope wondered.

"Oh, hey, Vanellope. Didn't see you coming in." Citrusella replied.

"Are you not going to have fun with the others?"

She shrugged, "We're…having fun among each other."

"Y'know, like we always have." muttered Sticky.

Vanellope thought for a while before realizing. "Uh, is it because…"

"We didn't get adopted in the first place, Vanellope." Citrusella explained.

"And yeah, Felix and Calhoun try to play their role, that doesn't change the reality that everyone decided to let us die during the first unplugging of  _Sugar Rush_." Torvald replied coldly. Vanellope felt bad on remembering it. "Along with most NPCs."

"I know, you guys. It all happened so fast, and none of you were on the Roster that day, we barely managed to escape when Litwak pulled the plug." Vanellope replied with a trace of guilt in her voice. "I wished I could inform you but it was just too late."

Sticky sipped from her coke can. "I don't even clearly remember what happened back then, but yeah, we were in our homes and everything started to break into pixels and faded out."

"Apparently, that's literally the life we've lived in  _Sugar Rush._ Nothing more than just color palettes, at least that's what King Candy used to say." Torvald muttered until realizing the person she had accidently mentioned. She saw Vanellope looking at her. "I mean, I'm not associating you with him or anything, you didn't mistreat us or any NPCs during your rule; but King Candy really used to appreciate the racers…but not us, we meant nothing to him or anyone. I don't know why."

Vanellope gave her a look. "You think I don't understand? He literally turned me into a glitch and tried to erase the existence of my code." Vanellope reminded as she took a seat at the table. "And I was bullied by the whole game for being a glitch."

"It really felt bad to see Taffyta and her gang destroying your carts and bully you, Vanellope." Added Citrusella. "Really, it did. But it was not like we could do anything to help…we were outcasted ourselves. Taffyta always acted as if she was doing us a favor by racing with a bunch of palette swaps."

"Of course." Vanellope uttered, rolling her eyes at the thought of Taffyta's jerk behavior towards almost everyone.

"It's not a surprise to me that you decided to leave  _Sugar Rush,_  anyone would've probably done the same in your place."

"Yeah, at least now we don't have to live in that sugar-coated land with Taffyta being our President." Nougetsia added in.

Vanellope looked down and wiggled the tip of her boots together; well, at least there was someone who didn't despised her her choices. "The only reason I left was so I could get a life out of that tiny game in that tiny arcade. To live my life for myself for once. But I never expected it to get this bad, even Ralph and I didn't have so much trouble over my decision as much as these people seem to have."

"Speaking of which," Begun Nougetsia, "Why are you not spending time with Ralph?"

Vanellope sighed and leaned back into her seat. "I don't know what to say to him after what happened last night. I told him we got along well."

"Why don't you just go and tell him?" Nougetsia asked. "Tell him you have a problem with Taffyta, he'll understand."

Vanellope started glitching. "What if he doesn't? What if his feelings get hurt that I lied to him?"

"Come on, Vanny, it's not like Ralph will hate you for not being friends with Taffyta if he knows she's a jerk." Vanellope settled down, that wasn't wrong after all.

"Yeah but-" Vanellope was interrupted as she heard an alarm; a player was on online. She sighed and got up. "Gotta get to the job."

"Don't stress over it that much, it'll be fine."

"Yeah…thanks."

* * *

"Hey, um…kid…which one are you again?" Ralph asked, confused as Candlehead turned to him.

"It's Candlehead." She answered. Ralph rubbed the back of his head nervously, it was still awfully hard for him to remember all of their names.

"Oh, yeah. I should've just noticed the candle." She smiled. "Anyway, do you know where Vanellope is? She just suddenly left without a word, wonder what's wrong."

Candlehead rubbed her chin, "I saw her car, maybe she went for the gameplay."

"Hey, Wreck-it, where's Felix?" Calhoun asked as she joined them.

"I thought he was with you." Ralph replied. Calhoun rolled her eyes and sighed in frustration.

"He was. I just left to see Gloyd and Swizzle's cars and he just disappeared somewhere like a juicy bone in front of a famished dog when I wasn't looking." She muttered in annoyance, "If he's with Shank, he's gonna be facing some serious interrogations." Ralph shook his head while Candlehead giggled. "Anyway, the Pint-sized isn't with you? I mean Vanellope."

"I was looking for her, she just walked away like that and joined the gameplay. I don't know why but I felt like she's been acting weird, she seemed stressed. Is something wrong, Candlehead?" Ralph asked as he turned to the little girl.

"I don't know…maybe she's stressed after what happened last night." The candle-headed girl guessed. Ralph gave her a look.

"What? Did something happened last night?" he inquired curiously.

"Yeah, I prepared some milkshake last night and some weird drink got mixed into Vanellope's glass and she got tipsy and got into a heated argument with Taffyta."

"What kind of an argument?" Ralph asked as Candlehead started explaining everything. "Oh, so that's what it is. Wonder why she didn't tell me." He wondered and shared a look with Calhoun who had a stern face.

"So, things haven't been going well between the two girls?" The sergeant inquired.

"Not really." The candle-headed girl turned to the wrecker. "We offered Vanellope a friendly talk last night, but she got doozy and said some pretty hateful stuff. I don't know why she refuses to be friends with us."

"I will see about that."

Calhoun was thinking something to herself. While Ralph was already off to talk to Vanellope, she knelt down to the kid, "Candlehead, tell the truth. Did Vanellope really do everything just like that or did Taffyta had something to do with it?" Candlehead clutched her fists behind her back, thinking what to say. Taffyta had always been the closest to her, but she shouldn't lie to her adoptive mother.

"I don't know…"

The sergeant placed a hand on her shoulder. "Candlehead, it's about doing what's right. Do you really want Vanellope and Taffyta to keep up with this rivalry forever?"

"Of course not! I mean…Taffyta said what Vanellope did was wrong and…we shouldn't support someone who, y'know, went Turbo for her own game, so..." Calhoun narrowed her eyes, so she was right. "But you know, I-I really want to amend things with Vanellope, she didn't get  _Sugar Rush_ unplugged on purpose…but I just don't wanna risk Taffyta and my friendship, we've always been close."

Calhoun sighed and looked into the kid's eyes. "Y'know, Candlehead, I really think you get these things better. And since you've been the closest to Taffyta," Calhoun took something out from inside of her armor, that was appeared to be a small, communicating device, similar to the one she had seen Vanellope use to talk with Ralph but a little different. "I was gonna give it to Taffyta, but it's better you keep it. If things get any worse between those two short-sacks, call us."

"Why me?" The kid asked in desperation. "Everyone thinks I'm …klutz, I don't even know why Vanellope denies to amend things up with us."

"All you need to do is keep an eye. I will talk to Taffyta, but for now, just keep this little thing with you, soldier." Calhoun explain gently but sternly as Candlehead nodded and took the phone.

* * *

"What is it you wanted to talk about?" Vanellope asked as she walked out of  _Slaughter Race's_  entrance with Ralph.

"You got drunk yesterday?" Ralph asked, his hands on his hip, his eyes narrowed.

Vanellope stuffed her hands in her pocket and avoided an eye-contact. ' _How did he get to know about this? I'm sure Taffyta told him.'_  "Er…sorta."

"I thought racing was what attracted you to this game and not this nasty stuff."

"It wasn't my fault, it got mixed into my milkshake by Pyro's mistake, he was too woozy last night. But don't worry, I had a nice talk with him about this, this won't happen again."

Ralph raised an eyebrow, "Uh, huh? Okay, it was a mistake I see. But threatening the racers and all that? Seriously?"

Vanellope glitched slightly. "I…uh, don't know what you're talking about."

"Stop pulling my leg, kid. I've heard everything!" He said, raising his voice. Vanellope looked up at him, he sighed and knelt down to her. "Look, kid, I see you don't get along with them but you threatened Taffyta to life if she and the other racers don't leave?" he interrogated in a disappointed voice. "It's not the best thing to do. They don't have their codes in the game, you're supposed to be careful."

"But why is it always me who has to be careful?!" Vanellope narrowed her eyes and folded her arms. "Like, they all suddenly drop in here out of nowhere, and now I'm the one who has to settle with everything?"

"Um, because you're-"

"Listen up, stench vessel," Vanellope raised a finger and interrupted. "I too got some real hard scolding after last night even though it hardly was my fault!"

"Yeah, but you-" Ralph tried to speak again.

She started to glitch. "And for your info, I even apologized to Miss Lollipop Addict for you, she just doesn't accept it!"

Ralph was getting frustrated. "Listen, kid, I'm not saying-"

"It's not my fault if they all couldn't run _Sugar Rush_  without me!"

" _Vanellope!"_

"No, I'm an unconstraint street racer and I'm free to live my life the way I want!" she defended, glitching hard now. "That's what makes  _Slaughter Race_  the perfect place to me!"

" _SHUT YOUR BLABBERING NOW, VANELLOPE!_ " Ralph yelled angrily, Vanellope would shut up and stop glitching. "Well, how do you expect them to react?! You said that the gamers will not miss you over your absence, but you were wrong and got  _Sugar Rush_ unplugged again, how can you even expect  _anyone_  in the arcade to trust you after that?" He asked distantly. Vanellope gasped slightly.

"So…Y-You also blame me-e-e f-for it, Ralph?" She shuddered between glitches again. "I thought at least you'd understand." Ralph huffed and diverted his eyes, avoiding a look.

"It's not me saying it, kid. That's what everyone in the arcade thinks." He admitted. "You said you leaving  _Sugar Rush_  wouldn't affect anything, but it affected way more than you know. But how are you supposed to know when you never bothered to show up at the arcade?" Vanellope felt broken at the wrecker's rough words. Ralph regretted bashing her like that, he really supported her dreams but she needed to know the truth. "I spend every day of my life getting bashed by people over my decision of letting you leave your game to follow your dreams. And I can live with that, I know it's not wrong to follow your dreams, but you can't just avoid those whose lives have been ruined 'cuz of  _your_ decision!"

Vanellope stared blankly as Ralph panted after the sudden outburst he had. He took a deep break and looked into her eyes a little more gently.

"Look, kid, your dream was to live in  _Slaughter Race_ and you can live it. But you have to accept the changes that have occurred upon your decision. I was bullied by the Nicelanders my whole life, in fact Gene still hates me, but I do live with them because not everything always works your way. So, quit with that ego and just try to amend things up with the racers." He said in agitation, rubbing his temples as Vanellope stared at him stonily before glitching once more. Ralph sighed and shook his head before getting up and making his way back into the game until Vanellope finally spoke up.

"Right, now I see it, Stinkbrain," she begun. "The only reason you want me to get fit in is so that you can prove a point to your so-called  _pathetic_  community in that  _ridiculous_  arcade?" she asked in a low bitter tone, her eyes narrowed. Ralph didn't respond. "So, you're ruining my dream place so you can make those people bellyaching over me following my dream satisfied about themselves upon the fact that I'm ensured to live a terrible life here just like I did in  _Sugar Rush_?"

"None of that would happen if you just start minding your business, and let others mind their own like I did, instead of going around shooting people and acting like a complete jerk, you think you look cool doing that?"

"Well, apparently I'm not  _you_ , Ralph. I refuse to amend things up with that bully, 15 years is not a short period." She spoke stubbornly. "I'm not being friends with her, and I'm not racing by her side. This is  _my_  home, this where  _I_  belong. And Taffyta or any of those racers have no place in my life." She continued.

Ralph closed his eyes in annoyance, his back still facing her. " _Slaughter Race_ isn't something you own, Vanellope. You don't decide who stays or who don'ts. For code's sake, kid, not everything can always be 'your way'."

Vanellope stood determinedly, clutching her fists and gritting her teeth furiously. "Then I will make it my way!" She hissed and pointed at him defiantly. "By the end of it, it'll either be me or them who stays. And I swear to code I'm not gonna be the one to leave!" She defied. Ralph turned to face her. "No one can tell me what to do here; it took me  _decades_  to attain this freedom, to do whatever I want without their interference, and I won't let anyone take it away from me!"

Ralph gave her a look. "Do you even know who you sound like? A crazy ruler who was willing to cross any boundaries to keep what he loves all to himself." He answered, his voice was deep, and filled with disappointment.

Vanellope winced and glitched a few steps back. "I…I don't c-care!"

"Fine." Ralph walked up to her, towering over her tiny figure. "You want to do whatever you want? If that's what you wish, then go ahead. Keep up this with this ego, but don't come to me if you mess anything up." With that, he stomped back into the game. Vanellope slightly teared up at her friend's bitter words.

"Huh, he really thinks the same as them, don't he?" She muttered, wiping her cheeks. "How stupid of me to even think he'd get hurt."

* * *

"Here you go, Ma'am! Fixed as new." Felix cheered as he spun his hammer before putting it back into the toolbelt. Shank gave a glance at her car that had just been 'fixed'.

"Was there anything to fix though?" Thee racer inquired and raised an eyebrow. Felix smiled and shrugged.

"Nothing more than some tiny scratches. But hey, there's always something to fix."

"Can I see it for a moment?" Shank asked, pointing at his hammer. Felix smiled and handed it to her, she looked at it carefully. "Hmm, a magic hammer that can fix anything. Impressive... We hardly see stuff like that much in modern games."

Felix chuckled, taking back his tool. "Nothing compared to your amazing high-definition graphics, ma'am." He said with a chuckle. "Uh…if you want me to fix anything else, it'd be a pleasure."

"I don't suppose you  _need_  to fix anything, most things in our game aren't programmed to be fixed." She said, pointing to a junkyard filled with old cars on fire nearby. Felix chuckled nervously.

"Then uh, how about we go on a drive? I'd love to see more your game." He asked, his cheeks glowing red. Shank gave him a look. "I mean, we don't see this large games back in our arcade, if you know what I mean…"

"Are you not going to spend more time with your children, Mr. Fix-it?"

"Oh, please, Mr. Fix-it was my father, just call me Felix. I'm just trying to get to know you, I am just thankful you are taking care of our sweet little honeypies, and it's very generous of you." He was interrupted as someone cleared their throat. Felix immediately sweated, he quickly turned back with a nervous face.

"Tammy, I'm sorry, I swear I wasn't…wait, Ralph?" The fixer found the wrecker standing there instead of his wife, glaring down at him, exasperated.

"I think it's time we go home, Felix." He hissed.

"Now? But we just came."

"If you don't wanna come, then I'll go alone." The giant man replied. "I'm not staying here another second now."

"What, no! I'm coming. Let's just pick Tammy first." Ralph nodded and turned back to leave. Felix sighed and turned to Shank who had a concerned expression. "Hope we'll meet again soon, ma'am." He took off his hat and kissed her hand with gallantry. Shank smiled and gave him an appreciative nod.

"Sure. Why not?" She replied as Felix wore his hat before following Ralph. Shank rubbed her chin. "Hm…the big guy seems stressed out, something's definitely not right."

Ralph exited the garage, only to spot Vanellope in her emerald car who shot him a last glare before speeding off. Ralph shook his head at her in dismay. "Huh. Just look at how much she has changed."

* * *

Vanellope stopped at the backside of the garage, and thumped back into her seat. Great, now Ralph was pissed off as well, right when she thought this all couldn't get any worse. How could he be so mean to her? Why did her decision to stay had to be such a big deal to him and everyone? And now she had even challenged him, without thinking what the consequences might be. She sighed, casually caressing the gearstick of the car. "Let's just see wherever this will go…" Vanellope shoved her other hand into her pockets, until she felt something in it. She pulled out the object and unwrapped it to see it was the burger Ralph had brought her as a present.

"I guess the reunion didn't go well." Came a voice. Vanellope turned her head, startled to find Shank sitting in the passenger seat with a concerned face. "Let me guess, is Ralph mad at you?"

She glitched. "What? No. It's fine…it was perfect. Couldn't have been any better." She frowned at the burger before tossing it over to Shank who caught it. "Excuse me for a while, Shank. I'd like to be alone for a moment." She muttered, hopping out of her car and walking away, glitching continuously. Shank stared at her walking away and shook her head in dismay.

"Looks like something went terribly wrong like I was afraid of."

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To Be Continued.  
> A/N: I put the recolors part in because they were not seen bullying Vanellope in the first movie, neither were they seen getting adopted when Sugar Rush was unplugged in the second one.  
> Hope you enjoyed.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Thanks for all your reviews, I really appreciate. And sorry, this took long.
> 
> Just a little note that this is a no-pairings fic, I’m not gonna be shipping anyone up here, so if any of you got anxious over the whole Felix/Shank thing in the last chapter, don’t need to worry, it was just a little funny spice I wanted to add, they won't really be a thing… or will they?
> 
> Enjoy this new chapter!

 

Vanellope let out a soft sigh and stuffed her hands into her pockets as she started walking her way down the OhMyDisney website. The pop-cover of _‘Let It Go’_ kept playing in the background as the netusers were cheering. Rather than the Happiest Place Online, Vanellope would instead prefer calling it the most Earsplitting Place Online. There was no doubt the place was never quiet, which Vanellope hoped would help her distracting herself from keep thinking about the stuff she was going through. Talking to the princesses about this might probably be no help, in fact talking to _anyone_ at all would be no help, she will only end up getting more lectures about accepting things the way they are. It’d probably be better if she just stayed alone and not talk to anybody else about it, unless she wants to make a fool of herself in front of everybody.

A ‘Which Disney Villain Are You?’ quiz was going on nearby, meanwhile some Marvel characters were being interviewed. But Vanellope was just lost in thoughts to notice, until she heard someone shout.

“Look out!” She looked up and saw a huge ball of snow flying towards her. With a glitch, she caught it in her hands.  “Ooh, that was close.” Said the snowball. Vanellope turned the huge snow ball to see it had a face.

“Olaf?” She guessed, raising an eyebrow of confusion.

“Hi, I’m Olaf and I like warm hugs!” He spoke his catchphrase with a cheerful and excited grin. “Thanks, Vanellope, I definitely wouldn’t have liked landing on my face. Big nose problems.” He giggled. “Here to meet Elsa, Anna and the other princesses?”

“Yeah, sort of, I don’t know. What were you doing anyway?” she asked. “Didn't expect you to fall from the sky.”

The snowman-face chuckled. “Guess skydiving with Dumbo wasn’t the best idea ever…” Vanellope glanced above to see an Elephant wearing a hat flying by using his massively huge ears as wings. “Haha, it’s okay, buddy! It was fun!” Replied Olaf, the Elephant smiled and flew off.

Vanellope watched him fly before turning to Olaf with an amused smirk. “Any idea where the rest of your body is?” she asked.

“Um… I don’t know. Why don’t we go and find it?” he suggested.

Vanellope rolled her eyes before nodding. “Yeah, right. Okay.” After all she couldn’t just leave the poor bodyless snowman’s face helplessly laying there.

“Let’s go bring back my butt!” Olaf cheered. Vanellope carried his head and started looking for his missing body. “So, Vanellope, didn’t you have any races today back in _Laughter Race_?”

“It’s _Slaughter Race._ And yeah, I did, it was just being too routine work…things weren’t going well and I just needed some time to myself so I came here.” She replied before muttering, “…After all there’s plenty of _people_ to cover it up.”

“Ooh, ooh! Absolutely! I love drinking some hot chocolate by the fire when I have a bad day,” He stated dreamingly. “…It’s totally worth _melting_.”

Vanellope looked at him curiously. “Do you ever even have a bad day, Olaf?”

“Not really.” He replied giggling. “But what’s not making today the perfect day for you?”

Vanellope sighed and looked away into distance, as if to pretend she’s looking for his missing body. “Living under the same roof as Taffyta is already annoying enough.” She muttered.

“Who’s Taffyta? I bet she’s lovely. Does she like hugs?”

“Err…I wouldn’t imply that. She’s a racer from my previous game who used to be a bully and…” Vanellope paused. “She hates me.”

“Oh, that doesn’t sound so lovely. Why does she not like you?” He asked.

“Because…uh,” Vanellope paused. Why was Taffyta rude to her? Because she left _Sugar Rush_ on purpose? Taffyta never seemed to like her since the beginning. Was it because she was a glitch back then? She was still not sure why exactly Taffyta always seemed to have a problem with her. Perhaps it was in both of their codes, more like something Vanellope could never figure out. “Maybe… because I hate her too.”

“And why do _you_ hate her?”

“Because…she’s like…my rival in almost everything, and she’s also rude to everyone. Look, I don’t know.”

Olaf blinked. “Wow, that’s more messed up than a bunch of talking rocks. Speaking of which, a wise troll once told me that people make bad decisions when are mad or scared or stressed, throw a little love in their way and you’ll bring out their best. Because y’know, everyone is a bit of a fixer-upper like Kristoff’s rock family used to say.” Vanellope gave him a look, thinking about his words. Show some love and appreciation to Taffyta to turn her into better person? Vanellope could easily throw up the whole day over even the image of it.

“Olaf, I see what you mean there but-”

“Oh, hey, look! It’s my butt over there!” Vanellope turned to see Olaf’s abdomen almost running into the Air-Bud Pavilion, she quickly glitched in its way.

“Gotcha!” Vanellope attached Olaf’s head to his body.

“Ah, that feels so good.” The now-completed snowman breathed out in relief.  “Thank you, Vanellope. Couldn’t have done it without you.”

Vanellope gave him a funny salute. “You got it, my main man.”

The little snowman giggled. “And I’m sure Taffyta will start liking you, I mean who wouldn’t? You’re such a delightful fella’,”

Vanellope sighed, eyeing the snowman with a small smile. “You think I am?”

“Absolutely! You just helped me out! And the nicest people help each other!” he giggled. “And I bet the Taffyta girl can also be the most lovely person ever! I’m sure you two can be best friends! Ooh, it would be so cute!” Olaf squealed to himself.

Vanellope rolled her eyes, Olaf’s optimism never failed to impress her, but was also a little annoying at the same time. “Yeah, right. I helped you, so in repayment, Imma’ borrow this.” Without a warning, she snatched out his carrot nose and glitched off.

“Hey, I can't smell ice without my nose!” the little snowman rushed clumsily before her on his chubby legs. “Vanellope, wait!” Vanellope took no time in losing him until she bumped into a Stormtrooper.

“Watch it, Princess Vanellope.” The Stormtrooper informed firmly.

“Sorry, Stormy guy.” She apologized, rubbing the back of her neck and sticking her tongue out. The Stormtrooper turned back to a person they were dealing with. “So, what do you say? Are you going to hand back the stuff you’ve stolen or we get it the hard way?”

“I’ve not stolen anything, sir. I don’t know what you are talking about.” Replied a voice. Vanellope peeked in from between the soldiers to see a man who was dressed in a pretty ripped-up black leather jacket over a white but dulled out hoodie, black slacks and sport shoes. He seemed to be in his 20s and had short brown messed up hair along with a red headband tied over his forehead. Tiny stubble beard and black eyes adorned his slightly pointed face, along with a small scar across the cheek. The Stormtroopers pointed their guns at him.

“Open your backpack, citizen.” They demanded, pointing to the backpack he was wearing. “We’ve seen you picking up merchandises from ShopDisney. And stealing authorized merchandises is strictly prohibited. We’ll have to check for it, only then we can let you go.”

“Please let me go, sir. I’m just a regular videogame character, I need to get back to my game.” He responded, that caught Vanellope’s attention. It was probably the first videogame character other than herself that she had seen in the website. “Rules are very strict for videogame characters, sir, please understand.” He was smacked in the face by one of the Stormtrooper’s gun and collapsed to the ground.

“Guess you don’t understand words. You’re coming with us.”

Vanellope gasped slightly, getting a sudden mental image of herself back in _Sugar_ _Rush_ with the other racers surrounding and pushing her around over her trials of gathering materials to build a cart. She wanted to help him, but was not sure how. Vanellope bit her lips and glanced down at the carrot in her hand. “Hold on!” She glitched in between everyone. “Actually it was me, I picked Olaf’s nose carrot from there.” She said and tossed the carrot up. The Stormtrooper caught it and looked at her.

“That’s…not a part of the merchandise at ShopDisney.” He stated.

“I know, that’s the thing! Some lout placed it up at the shop, I just took time to remove it or someone could’ve bought the poor guy’s nose.” She explained with a look of utter seriousness and concern. Stormtroopers shared a confused look. The strange man also gave her a puzzled look.

“But we can't let him go without checking his stuff.”

Vanellope huffed and placed her hands on her hips authoritatively. “What? Are you accusing an official Disney princess for lying over a marketing issue?”

“Oh! There it is!” Olaf’s voice came from behind as he rushed over, smiling widely. “Hi! I’m Olaf and I like warm hugs! Thank you so much for getting back my nose! I love you more than I love summer!” He bounced up and hugged the Stormtrooper’s face. Seeing the chance, Vanellope grabbed the arm of the guy that was still laying on the ground and disappeared with a glitch.

“Hey, wait you two!” The Stormtrooper yelled as the two were out of sight. Vanellope quickly glitched them both out of the website.

She dropped the guy to the ground, who was panting. “There you go, big guy.” Vanellope said, brushing off her clothes.

“Thank you for saving me, but why did you do it?” He asked.

Vanellope smiled and shrugged. “One videogame character to another. Also, those Stormtroopers are annoying, those vexers just act like they’re the in-charge of the website itself. I got chased by them the first time I came here too.” He smiled slightly back at her. “Anyway,” Vanellope offered him a hand. “Princess Vanellope Von Schweetz.” She introduced, “But call me Vanellope, ‘princess’ is just to be safe in this bizarre website.”

The adult man thought a bit before shaking her arm. “Flint.”

“So, Flint, were you really stealing something?” She asked with a smirk, putting her hands back in an authoritative manner.

“Er…what? Nope. Not at all.” He muttered, looking away.

“Hmm…” Vanellope rubbed her chin before glitching his bag off him and opening it to see a bunch of merchandises in it. She gave him a confused look. “Why were you stealing toys?”

“They aren’t toys, they’re merchandises,” Flint argued before sighing. “They…give a good price at local websites.”

“I thought you were a videogame character?” Vanellope inquired, narrowing her eyes suspiciously.

“I was. But…just not anymore.” Flint replied, looking down. Vanellope’s expression softened.

“Oh…I see. Did your game went down?”

“Er…You can say that.” He said before proceeding to snatch the bag back, but Vanellope pulled it behind her back.

“That still doesn’t give you a right to steal.” She claimed defiantly.

“Well, I wouldn’t go around stealing cars in other people’s games for a livin’, if y’know what I mean…”

“Well, there are much better ways to earn money on the internet than either of that.” Vanellope insisted and proceeded to take out her phone, Flint grasped her hand and lowered it with annoyance before she could do anything.

“I know. Like making stupid videos and acting like an idiot in front of a bunch of indolent people around the world, blah, blah, blah. These things don’t really work out in reality, kid, it’s more like an unfulfillable dream.” He replied annoyed. “Plus, this website is damn huge,” He pointed at the big castle. “It wouldn’t mean a thing even if I take away some of their stuff.” He finished with a sheepish grin as Vanellope rolled her eyes.

“I saved your life, kiddo. You can't imagine what those Stormtroopy guys could’ve done with you if it wasn’t for me. You owe me one.”

Flint sighed and sat up. “First, I’m way older than you, so you better don’t call me that. Second, you really do know how to convince people.” He said and rolled his eyes as Vanellope snickered. “But you did help me, so I hold gratitude for it. Now, would you like to come with me to my house?”

Vanellope wouldn’t usually prefer going with some stranger, but the guy seemed well, she felt it fine to go. “Okay, but I can't stay for long though.” She assured before following him. “I need to return to my game too.”

* * *

 

Ralph gulped another mouthful of root beer as he stared at his half-broken cookie medal sorrowfully. It was so hard to believe that Vanellope chose to end their friendship just like that. Why? Because he just wanted to prove the arcade that Vanellope did not leave out of hatred, and that she is still one of them even though she was not here? All he was doing was for her own good…or was it because he wanted a better life for himself?

But does that really give her the right to end their prized friendship simply because things were not going the way she wanted? Did the desire of possession in her own self-proclaimed ‘paradise’ meant so much to her, that all the sacrifices he had made meant nothing but a big zero to her now? _‘How?’_ was all Ralph could ask. How could she change so much, how could she be so selfish and possessive? A tear dropped down his eye as he stared at his broken cookie medal. This totally wasn’t the Vanellope he had known for years, the one who had given him the most precious medal, the happiest life and a value of existence. This couldn’t be her, he had thought letting her live in her dream game was going to turn her into an even better person, but turns out her greed only expanded more because of him always fulfilling all her demands.

Or was it his fault? Was he being too demanding himself? Was it really Vanellope’s fault that nobody in _Sugar Rush_ wanted to befriend her anymore? Maybe if he had let her give her subjects more time and be a better leader instead of keeping her reserved to himself all the time, he could have had Vanellope be more open to them. Maybe it was him who convinced her that she never needed anybody but him, and so now she thinks she doesn’t need him anymore either.

Ralph proceeded to drink another mouthful of Root Beer but found his glass empty. “Hey Tapper, get me another one please.”

“Ralph, that’s the fifth Root Beer you owe me today.” Tapper reminded as Ralph gulped another mouthful of root beer before slumping onto the counter. “We don’t need you falling asleep here again, go back to your own game for that please.” Ralph ignored, burying his face into the table with the cookie medal laying before him. “You seem really stressed after your visit to Vanellope.”

“Kind of.” Ralph sat back up, sniffing. “She said that I was ruining her life with my expectations, Tapper. That…that _Slaughter Race_ is all that she needs, and so she wants it all to herself, without anyone from her past interfering…including me.” The wrecker looked down at the broken medal. “All I wanted was to prove everyone here that Vanellope doesn’t hate anyone and is still a part of our arcade family…which she herself proved otherwise.” He took another sip. “She doesn’t want anything to do with anyone… Maybe it was my fault, Tapper, maybe she’d been a little more comfortable with them if I’d let her give her subjects more time as a President instead of just being her friend all the time. Maybe I’m responsible for her desire of just getting _Sugar Rush_ out of her life forever.”

“Ralph, there’s nothing wrong with being a companion, don’t blame yourself. Those racers haven’t been any nice to her either, what happened in her past is not your fault. I think Vanellope wishes to take her own decision here,”

“She’s willing to cross any boundaries to get them out, even if it means, like…getting rid of them for good! You know what I mean, is that supposed to be her decision?” Ralph growled and slammed his glass down, almost at the point of wrecking it. “Felix and Calhoun would’ve flipped me up if something happened to them. This wasn’t the type of person I left her to become in _Slaughter Race_!”

Tapper paused cleaning the mug and raised an eyebrow. “I’m not buying that the kid did that just because she’s annoyed, there’s gotta be a reason.”

Ralph scoffed. “Yeah, she got drunk or whatever…but still what she did was wrong.”

“But if you’d tried to persuade the kid instead of bashing on her like that, she was more likely to accept rather than holding grudges against you.” Tapper pointed out. “She’s just a kid, Ralph, and things are going tougher on her than she’s supposed to bear. There’d been so many times Vanellope just walked away mad because she doesn’t like the way things work, that doesn’t mean she doesn’t love you.”

He put down his glass with a sigh. “You’re not wrong, Tapper. I guess I was being too demanding…” Ralph muttered.

“All she needs is some support. It’s not too late, Ralph, just call her and tell her everything, that you are willing to help her out of this dilemma. She is your friend, offer her a little bit of empathy, she will listen. Trust me.”

“Yeah, and still if nothing works, I think we will have to give up and find some other racing game in the Internet for those kids.” Ralph said and sighed as he took out his BuzzzyPhone and opened it, the picture of Vanellope grinning delightfully popped up on it, the wrecker gave it an uncertain look.

_What if she doesn’t want to talk?_

* * *

 

Vanellope gulped nervously as they went down an elevator into the depth of the Internet. Flint noticed it and smiled. “We’re almost there.”

“Okay, but where exactly are we going?” She inquired. “I haven’t been to this part of the Internet.”

“The darknet.” He answered casually.

“ _Darknet?_ Doesn’t sound like a pleasant place, I like that.” The elevator stopped with a thud as she finished, Vanellope almost stumbled.

“Welcome to the darknet.” Flint introduced as the door opened with a creak to reveal a strange looking place, completely different from the regular Internet that Vanellope had seen. Vanellope stepped out and looked around at the dark and creepy looking place, with strange looking creatures crawling around and some anonymous users wearing black cloaks exploring the place. It was dead silent.

“You live here?” She asked.

“I know, this is not really the best locality to live in, but it’s all a regular guy like me got.” He stated, roaming around in the shady place. “It’s a little weird, but don’t be afraid, it’s all good.”

Vanellope gave him a funny look, she lived in a game literally called _Slaughter Race_ and this guy assumed her to be afraid of a little cranky looking place. Shrugging it off, she went with him. He took her to a place downstairs underground, that turned out to be his little home.

“Come on, kid, come in.” he offered as Vanellope entered in his little house. It looked normal, just a small room with a bed, shelf and table; funny looking posters on the wall and a mess of weird looking drinks in the corner. “I know it’s a mess, haha, I apologize for that. I don’t usually get visitors.” he laughed, shrugging.

“Yeah, looks like it.” Vanellope replied as she looked at the wall covered with posters.

“But hey, we’re all grateful to the helping ones in the darknet.” He took out a juice can from the fridge and poured it in the glass until he heard Vanellope exclaim.

“Ooh, you got a lot of cool stuff hidden in here!”

Flint almost dropped the drink as he turned back to see that Vanellope had found a secret opening behind a big poster. “H-Hey! Who said you could go in there? Come back!” He yelped as he ran before her before he stubbed his toe and stumbled down the stairs Vanellope had found and entered. She found that it was a dark room and filled with machinery.

“What’s all this, Flint?” Vanellope was curious. “This looks like a workshop or something, what do you do in here?”

“Dang, how did you manage to find that door?”

Vanellope shrugged. “Guess I’m programmingly good at finding secret openings.”

He sighed. “Ok, well, let me make things clear to you, kid, but just get outta’ my workshop first.” he said leading her back upstairs and closing the doors behind him. “I…I do a kind of business here, which includes stuff like gaining access with codes of certain programs or devices, and modifying them, adding and eliminating codes in sculptures, if you know what that means…”

“Hold on…y-you’re a hacker!” Vanellope exclaimed, taking a few steps back in caution. She regretted getting convinced into following him there, there was no way she was going to risk anything by trusting a hacker. He rubbed the back of his neck, and sensed the kid attempting to escape. “Er…thank you for the gallantry, mister, I really appreciate but I’m getting late for my game, so I should probably go…”

“Well, yeah, I’m sort of a hacker! So? W-what’s wrong about it?” he defended.

Vanellope gave a concerned look. “I don’t know…everything, I guess? I mean, changing the code and stuff, it’s kinda against the rules and sort of dangerous for everyone.”

“Urgh, people and their rules! I don’t do stuff like that, trust me, I just…ugh, have a seat, I’ll explain. It’ll just take a moment.” Vanellope hesitantly took a seat as the man walked up to the shelf to pick up the juice glass he had filled. “See, I was separated from my friends when I lost my game. And see…it’s really hard for video game characters to survive in the ‘net after they lose their games, no one’s there to help them or give them work at websites or anywhere, it’s all a mess.” He handed her the glass and sat down. Vanellope raised an eyebrow, she had thought it would be easier for homeless characters to survive in the internet for it being such a big place. But she just stayed silent and listened, “I was programmed for this skill by code. My co-characters in my game, they looked down at me for being a minor, off-screen character who just designs powerups and machinery, and…constantly complained about it.” Vanellope put her glass down and stared at him silently, getting a slight thought of the characters of her own game as he continued. “Tormented and neglected for not being useful…so much that I just wanted to…to…”

“Ditch it?” She guessed. Flint looked into her eyes as she gave him an understanding look. He nodded.

“And I did. I was tired of being treated like dirt, but guess ditching wasn’t the best move ever, yeah it did save me from the tyrants, but I have no place to go other than this domicile here.” He gestured to his house. “Stealing stuff from websites to make a living and still getting taunted by people, though less than the former. Why I brought you here is because you’re like one of the only few people in a while who helped me and I hold my gratitude to you.”

Vanellope gave him an apologetic look, she felt terrible about her actions. “I’m…sorry for freaking out on you like that, I just don’t have a good perspective over people who like to mess with codes,”

“As a matter of fact, nobody does, kid. If I were that dangerous type of a hacker, you wouldn’t have caught me stealing stuff at Family Websites.”

“No, I mean, literally I’ve been assaulted by a crazy hacker myself, which kinda resulted in…well, this.” She demonstrated by glitching into different spots, but Flint didn't seem to be much surprised by it.

“Yes, I saw you do it back at the website. Looks like some kind of teleportation.”

“Well, it’s a long story.” She glitched back onto her chair as she began drinking her juice and explaining everything.

\--

“Uh huh, I see…a guy named Turbo tried to take over your game and turned you into a glitch.” He confirmed after hearing everything, she nodded and stared at her now empty glass. “Yikes, that’s some real tough stuff you’ve been through, kid.”

“If it weren’t for my friend Ralph, I might still have been a glitch. But then, one day I realized there was more to life than _Sugar Rush._ I ditched my game after I came to the internet and found my dream game _Slaughter Race,_ but now my old fellow racers who used to torment me are there and they’re…”

“Wait, you’re from _Slaughter Race?”_ Vanellope stared blankly at how rudely she was interrupted but responded with a nod. “Really?”

“Yeah, ya’ know it?”

“Uh… of course, I mean, who doesn’t? It’s the current most _overrated_ game everybody talks about…” He muttered, as he huffed and leaned back on his seat, getting lost in thoughts. “Not really known for the best though...”

Vanellope put down her glass and eyed him curiously. “What do you know about it?”

“I don’t know anything, really. But some of my friends did and they…don’t have a good overview.”

“Well, Shank’s the leader of our game, and the only people she isn’t nice to are the ones who try and steal her car. But when out-of-character, she really prefers treating everyone like family.” Vanellope explained before muttering. “Although it’s her niceness towards everyone that’s really pissing me off lately.” Flint’s eye narrowed at her words.

“You’re saying like everyone that acts cool is always supposed to be actually nice,” Flint said bluntly. Vanellope huffed.

“Nah, I know Shank. She’s my best friend around here, and _Slaughter Race_ is my dream place.” She assured. “But wassup’ with you? Do you have something to do with her?”

“What? No, I don’t even know her. I just guessed…I didn’t knew you were from that game actually, cuz’ you didn’t seemed like it.”

“Well, because I game-jumped into it, guh-doy,” She rolled her eyes. “And being accused for _going Turbo_ at the same time…”

“Uh, yeah, now I see.” He muttered and slapped himself, Vanellope raised an eyebrow. “I’m sorry. I take time to really get things, which I think is also one of the things people find annoying.”

Vanellope chuckled and shook her head. “Not as annoying as I’m usually reminded to be, doofus. You’re actually pretty cool.”

“What? Really?” He inquired with a slight blush, she nodded. He sighed. “Well, haven’t heard that in a long time, thanks.” Vanellope smiled and leaned back into her seat, there was a tiny moment of silence.

“We are pretty alike, aren’t we?” Flint broke the silence. Vanellope straightened up and looked at him. “I mean…a bit, sort of…neglected, tormented and always mistook by people.”

“Yeah, I guess we kinda are.” She agreed with a sad smile. “Y’know…I’d say you did well ditching that game of yours. At least you’ve got your freedom now.” She confessed before looking down, wiggling her thumbs together. “Unlike me…my memories and people from the past just won't let me live in peace no matter where I go.”

“Mine neither. But you know what I do? I say screw it! Past is in the past, forget it. Because there’s no point bellyaching about it again and again, I just get sick of it. It’s basically like looking over your own shoulder and mourning over your own footprints being there, if you know what I mean.” He replied. She looked up at him. “And you did no wrong ditching your game as well, it’s not your fault you’re sick of everything they’ve made you go through, GirlBro. They deserved the same.”

She couldn’t help but nod. “But it’s not really helping because they’re into _Slaughter Race_ now, and Taffyta, that lead bully back from my game, she’s picking on me again over my decision of leaving the arcade. And my friend Ralph, even he’s gotten tired of it. Not even he is gonna help me out of this, so I guess I’ve gotten it all on myself now…” her voice shuddered at the thought of Ralph and the harsh words he had said earlier. Flint placed a hand on her shoulder. “I just want to live my life the way I want, with the people I want to live with. I don’t understand why they can't see that.”

“Hey, it’s going to be okay, Vanellope. People are rude because they can be. Just remember you have a friend in case there’s something you need.”

She smirked, “Well, look at that. It hasn’t even been a day since we met, dude.” Though for her it was not very unusual, she and Ralph had became best friends since the day met. He smiled at her.

“Actually, it almost has been.” He pointed at his watch.

“Hold on, has it been THAT long already?!” she exclaimed, jumping to her feet on her seat. “Oh, man, I should’ve been back to my game by now! Great seeing you, but gotta go, bye!”

“Right, if ya’ need anything, I’ll be right here.” He offered as she hopped off the chair and gave him a quick smile.

“Thank you.”

“No, thank you.” He replied and pulled out his bag full of Disney merchandises. “At least I can keep them now thanks to you.”

Vanellope rolled her eyes and shook her head. “Oh, I’ll get ya’ for that later.” She said and finger-gunned at him playfully before glitching out. Flint stared at the door for a moment until he heard something, turning over he noticed a small cuboid shaped object under the chair. He crouched to pick it up and observed it, it looked like a tiny communication device that was vibrating. It had an 8-bit picture of an angry looking man with reddish hair with the name ‘RALPH’. He watched as it stopped vibrating before playing a voice message.

_“Um…Vanellope? Kid, listen I just want to talk. Call me back when you’re not busy, I’m sure we can do something to make things better between you and the other kids, you don’t have to live with them ya’ don’t want to. We’ll try finding you or them another game if nothing works. Don’t be mad, little sister, I’ll be waiting for your call.”_

The message finished and the phone went silent. Flint closed his eyes and shook his head.

“Not really. I think it’s gonna take the princess a lot more than that to patch things up.”

* * *

 

Ralph dropped his phone on the table, burying his face in his hands. “Like, I said, Tapper. She didn't pick up, she just doesn’t want to talk to me anymore.”

“You said the Internet was busy, just wait until she calls you back. Have patience, big guy.” Tapper replied before he heard a call for more Root Beer and walked away.

“Yeah,” Ralph leaned against the wall, pinching his nose stressfully. “Just wait for her like you always do, Ralph.”

* * *

 

**End of chapter.**

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, here’s my new OC in the WIR archive, and hope y’all liked it. Also, there’s a tiny change I did that you might’ve noticed when you clicked on this story, kudos to anyone who did ^^’
> 
> Please leave comments and kudos, I will really appreciate.


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: Thank you for all the reviews! Here's the new chapter, enjoy.**

* * *

**The Next Day,**

After Vanellope returned to  _Slaughter Race_  she was still thinking about her talk with Flint last night, she felt bad for the dude. His story almost made her recall the time she met Ralph 8 years ago when she used to be an outcast and her Stinkbrain helped her way out of it and into becoming a racer. Speaking of which, her rough talk with Ralph still pained her to the code. Ralph was the one had always supported her dreams, and he really decided to end their friendship just like that? Considering that he had not even called her since he left, maybe it really was the end of it. And she straight on betted on him that she would do anything to make things 'her way' again, although she was now regretting her words, she cussed herself for describing her wishes to him in the most selfish way possible, maybe that's why he was so irate. From how familiar she assumed she was with him, Ralph was usually the first one to apologize in case a quarrel occurred, sometimes even when he didn't need to. Vanellope would usually either call it cute or roll her eyes over it, but Ralph really seemed to be done with her this time.

Vanellope considered talking to him, he had not even called her since he left out of frustration, especially after she told him that he was  _expecting_  too much. She was not sure how she will even look at him or what to say to him, but maybe a little try on a peace offering wouldn't hurt. Hesitatingly, she reached into her pocket to take out her phone, but froze in place.

Her BuzzzyPhone was missing.

"Huh, what the…?" she panickily searched through her entire clothing, glitching anxiously upon not finding her precious device. "Oh, no, no. It can't be…" her only means of communicating with Ralph was lost. Vanellope mentally slapped herself, how could she lose something so important? She couldn't watch out for a simple little device. How irresponsible. How was she going to contact Ralph now? But then her frustration slowly vanished eventually and she drooped with a sigh. Maybe it was a good thing, he probably wouldn't want to contact her anyway, not after what happened between them. He probably wouldn't wanna be her friend anymore. It probably wasn't even worth a try.

Vanellope sighed and kicked a lonesome pebble, it glided and dropped into a small pond by the sewer. She looked into her reflection in the mud pond. If she were Ariel, she probably would have sung a bunch of annoying songs about everything by now, and she actually felt a strange urge to. But…no, things were way too unpleasant, and she was too disheartened to even sing.

How pathetic, not a single, solitary good thing had happened in her life since those rascals and that excuse of a racer had dropped in. Then she remembered Flint's words, there was no reason bellyaching about the past. Maybe it was better she doesn't risk anymore of her relationships over what is lost.  _Maybe_ it was better she just accepts things, at least her friends would be happy; if not Ralph, she could at least do it for Shank who had been most patient by far.…right? She couldn't risk it, because if she gets asked to leave  _Slaughter Race_ , though she was sure Shank was not callous enough to tell her off, Vanellope will have nowhere to go. No Ralph, no  _Slaughter Race,_ andno  _Sugar Rush._

A pigeon came flying, it squirmed around her gracefully, Vanellope twirled around along with it, extending her arm and letting it land on her finger. She softly caressed it, staring down at her reflection. Maybe Ralph was right, thing can't always be 'her way' after all.

"Hold it there, glitch!" the pigeon flew away as Vanellope turned to see Taffyta stomping toward her, and she wasn't looking pleased, the other racers soon caught up as well. Vanellope stuffed her hands in her pockets and kept on a flat expression.

"What is it you want now, Taffyta?" She muttered, trying to sound as polite as possible.

"I would like to ask that to  _you._  What's the problem with you minding your own business?" the blond girl asked.

"What are you even talking about? I didn't do anything." Vanellope asked, confused. Taffyta scowled and grabbed Vanellope by the hoodie.

"Don't act all innocent! You told mom and dad about everything that happened that night, didn't you?!"

"What? No, I didn't say anything to Felix and Sarge." Vanellope exclaimed, shaking her head. "I'm already troubled after what happened between me and Ralph, I thought you told him!"

"Keep those excuses to yourself! Be as much of a jerk you want to be, that's another thing, but involve mom and dad in this and see what I do!" the blond girl hissed and smacked Vanellope in the head.

Vanellope, getting enough of it struggled to get free. "Listen, I'm tryin' to be nice. And you're crossing a line there, Taffyta."

"Oh, yeah?" Taffyta asked with a smirk and gave Vanellope a shove, she yelped before collapsing into the pond of mud she was looking into earlier. "How's that to you?" she asked as Vanellope sniffed and wiped the dirt off her face. Her clothes were completely soaked in mud. "What's wrong, glitch? Not standing up for yourself anymore? Or are you just too afraid because not even your so-called best friend is by your side now?" Vanellope yelped again as a pebble hit her in the head.

"Oops, sorry, I thought I was gonna miss it." Gloyd who had thrown the pebble shuddered nervously.

"No, you did good, Gloyd." Taffyta shook off before turning back to Vanellope. "See, no matter where you go or where you live, you're always going to be the glitch nobody wants. So next time, think twice before even  _thinking_  you worth anything more than just a stupid mistake." Vanellope felt too broken to strike back on her, "Go on, give another wise talkback like you always do or I'll take it as you're scared, you pathetic excuse of a President." Suddenly they heard a call.

"Taffyta, hold on!" Candlehead rushed in.

"Oh, hey, Candles. Do you wanna give this glitch a smack too? I think she does deserve one from you as well after what she did back that night."

"Taffyta, let go of her now." The candleheaded girl demanded.

Taffyta scoffed. "Do you have any idea what she did? She told mom and dad about the whole drama, you know how much mom scolded me over it? Let me remind her of the good ol' days now so she gets to know her place."

"She didn't tell mom, dad or Ralph anything, I did." Candlehead confessed. Both Vanellope and Taffyta gave her a look.

"What?" Vanellope finally spoke. "But why did you do it?"

"Because everyone is tired of you two being rivals. Like, it's been years since all that happened, but nothing ever mended the bond between you. Taffyta, you're my friend, but mom and dad had to know about this." Candlehead replied.

Taffyta sighed. "Look, Candles, I see what you're saying there but seriously, you don't need to cut in."

"And I think the problem is that I never cut in. Every time you bullied Vanellope, I knew it was wrong, but I stayed silent. That's not happening again."

"Please, you stayed silent and that's okay, it's one of your appreciable qualities, Candles. Now why don't you go race with Rancis while I deal with this glitch here?" Rancis who was originally busy brushing his hair, looked and nodded nervously and stepped in to Candlehead.

"Yeah, come on, Candles. Let me show you something I found yesterday. It was a cool type of rock you wanna see." He said. "It was beautiful and glows in dark."

Candlehead beamed up. "Sounds lovely…but, that's not the point! Look, mom asked me to-"

Taffyta huffed and kicked Vanellope who was trying to get up back into the pond. "Yeah, right. Mom this, mom that, blah blah blah… go away now, momma's girl."

"I think we all know who's really the momma's girl around here." They heard another voice. They all turned to see it was Citrusella, who was accompanied by Torvald, Sticky and Nougetsia. "Quit bullying Vanellope, Taffyta."

Taffyta rolled her eyes. "Now, what do you girls want?" This was not getting any easier. Why did the glitch all suddenly had so many people on her side?

"As Shank said, you too are not supposed to bully Vanellope, remember? Or do you want us to expose you to everyone?"

Taffyta glanced at the other racers before bursting into a chortle, followed by the others. "'Ight, so the glitch has gathered a bunch of palettes swaps for some stupid radical support since her big bad guy isn't here for that. How adorable."

"Firstly, you're not supposed to call her a glitch since she isn't one anymore, neither is there any recoloring because none of us all have our codes in this game. Secondly, what happened between her and Ralph is none of your business."

"Are you girls seriously defending  _her?"_  Taffyta pointed at Vanellope who was still in her mud pond. "After she betrayed the arcade, her kingdom, her friends and destroyed the lives of a hundred innocent NPCs out of her own selfishness, whom she was actually meant to protect, and still isn't getting the hang of it and keeps trying to get us out of here so she can just get away with the mess she's created and live her own self-proclaimed paradise?" Vanellope started to tear up at Taffyta's words. "If she's such a hero, why didn't she save  _Sugar Rush_ when it needed her? Simply because she didn't care, there's no one she cares about but herself."

Nougetsia stepped in. "Well, if  _you_  cared about  _Sugar Rush_ so much, then why couldn't you take Vanellope's place when she was gone? If you're always trying to compete with her, why couldn't you get the attention Vanellope used to get, Taffyta? Why couldn't you be the President Vanellope used to be?" Nougetsia pointed at her, Taffyta just stared. Vanellope looked at them, surprised that what was happening. "Because at least she didn't bias anyone for not being perfect; you're not even half as a fair leader Vanellope used to be, and you just wanted to take her place even though you knew you couldn't handle it!"

"And so after  _Sugar Rush_ got unplugged, you decided to put all the blame on Vanellope so you don't get a word on not being a good leader who could protect our game like you'd promised." Added in Sticky, crossing her arms and narrowing her eyes, much to Taffyta's distress.

"W-What are you all talking about?! That's not the point," Taffyta shuddered, realizing where this was all going. "None of that changes the fact that she totally went  _Turbo_!"

Torvald folded her arms and narrowed her eyes. "Take it from me, Taffyta, you're no less than Turbo either when it comes to administration."

Vanellope couldn't help but grin in amusement as Taffyta stepped back, anxious over the sudden criticism she had just attained, she noticed everyone looking at her. "What? Are you guys believing them? Of course I didn't mean any of that! You all are very well aware of what Vanellope did!"

"Taffyta, come on, let's go." Candlehead said and tugged her arm. Taffyta yanked it off.

"Ugh! That's it, I'm outta' here!" Taffyta screeched, stomping off the scene in annoyance.

"Taffyta's innocent mask really needs to be exposed to Shank." Torvald replied, staring off at Taffyta who was walking away. "I think we should tell her." Vanellope slowly got to her feet.

"No. It's enough, Torvald. I'm can't take any more of this, plus if Ralph doesn't wanna listen to me, what makes you think Shank will do anything?" Vanellope asked in a rather disappointed tone. The brown recolor folded her arms, raising an eyebrow.

"Doesn't make sense. A moment ago you wanted to get rid of Taffyta… and now?"

"I've realized complaining isn't gonna help anymore. If Taffyta and I need to have a settlement, it's gotta be an actual  _settled_ one just between us." Vanellope brushed the mud off her clothes before continuing. "I'm done risking anything more over it. Breaking up with Ralph was already unsettling enough, I don't wanna cause more trauma over to Shank." The four racers shared a look before looking back at her, Vanellope's expression softened and turned into an appreciative smile. "Thanks for your support anyway."

"Come on, it's nothing. It was fun to bash Taffyta after how much of a jerk she's been anyway." Citrusella said as Vanellope brushed off her clothes, "But seriously Vanellope, it'd harder to expose her than you think it is. For that what's needed is a strategy, not open outbursts. You gotta think…y'know, smarter than that."

Vanellope sighed stressfully. "I'm tired of this, guys. I'm afraid I'm gonna lose everything because of this, I think I've hurt Ralph, now I can't bear hurting Shank or anybody else." She stuffed her hands in her pockets, muttering. "If nothing works, maybe I'll just have to, I don't know, leave this place then; and go somewhere far away where I could live in peace."

"Leave? Don't you love  _Slaughter Race_  anymore?"

"Of course I love  _Slaughter Race!_ But… you wouldn't imagine me living with my friends hating me, would ya'?"

"So, you'd rather admit defeat?" inquired Torvald imperatively. Vanellope glitched at the statement, wriggling her thumbs together anxiously. Torvald placed a hand on the brunet racer's shoulder, looking into her eyes. "I know this isn't easy for you, Prez, but don't give up your dreams over Taffyta's demands. Once you're proven right, it'll all be better."

"Ahem." The five turned back to see Candlehead standing there, hands tugged behind her back and an uncertain look on her face. "…Hi."

"What is it you want now?"

"See, um…what Taffyta did to you back there was wrong. I feel bad for you, Vanny."

Vanellope brushed the leftover dust off her sleeve with an impassive look. "Why though?" she asked. "I thought you were supposed to be on Taffyta's side? You're her best friend after all, she ain't gonna like you hanging around glitches and stuff."

Candlehead looked down, nervously clutching the pocket that held the device her mom had given her. "But I did came to help you out when she was pushing you around again."

"Did you need to though?" Vanellope inquired quietly. "Sorry, Candlehead, you may mean well, but nothing changes the fact you are still on Taffyta's side." Candlehead looked into her eyes.

"Listen, I'm guilty that all I ever did was just stand by and watch whenever you got bullied. I just want to get your rivalry to an end for now, if you'd consider that." The recolors shared a look, but Vanellope kept her eyes locked on the girl and glitched once.

"Well," She begun lowly, stuffing her hands into her pockets. "Why don't you go and tell this to your bestie then?"

"You need to understand it as well, Vanny. You both need to."

Vanellope rolled her eyes slightly before speaking up. "Right, okay. Thank you for telling, I think I have understood."

"You have?"

"Yeah, absolutely. Kindly, just try minding your own business next time, candles."

Candlehead stepped forward with a convincing look. "I'm serious, Vanellope! Just think how better things would be if you guys patch up. We all can be friends again, race among each other's sides, y'know, just like we used to back in  _Sugar Rush._ Shank would be so happy. _"_ Vanellope's face slowly softened. "You and Ralph can be best friends again, just think how delighted he would be. Wouldn't you like seeing him happy?" Vanellope glanced down at her half-broken cookie medal that she was wearing. She took it in her hand and traced the distorted icing words written on it. Her eyes begun watering, she really was missing Ralph so much. The only last thing for a goodbye she had gotten from him was nothing but a disappointed look over how stubborn she is. Everything c _ould_ get back to normal, if they had amended things up… maybe, for Ralph…

' _You want to do whatever you want?'_ she recalled Ralph's words back from the day.  _'Keep up this with this ego, but don't come to me if you mess anything up.'_

Vanellope clutched the medal tight as her expression turned back into an upset one. He thought she was too egoistic wanting to live her life. He didn't cared about her dreams, he didn't support them, the only reason he wanted her to patch things up was to  _prove a point._ A point to his so-called companions back at the arcade. To those who thought she had  _gone Turbo_. And when refused, he just told her off. Everyone shared an uncertain look as Vanellope shoved the medal back into her hoodie. This was it. She didn't cared about what Ralph thought if he doesn't either.

Vanellope gave Candlehead an annoyed frown. "Not yet, we're not." She replied before turning away and glitching off.

The four racers turned to leave, Sticky placed a hand on her shoulder. "Stop trying." She simply suggested before walking away. Candlehead pulled out her phone and sighed. Neither of them was going to be convinced so easily. There were just too many grudges held for her to eradicate alone. All she could do now was just wait and look out for trouble.

"This is going to be a lot harder than mom said."

* * *

**That Evening…**

Taffyta walked up the hill, Shank wanted to have word with her, she was wondering what could be so serious that they needed to discuss alone. Besides that, Taffyta still couldn't stop thinking about the words those recolors had said to her earlier.

"' _You're no less than Turbo when it comes to administration either, Taffyta.'"_ She mockingly repeated the words that brown, chocolate-themed recolor of Minty has said. "Who do they think they are? Nothing but a bunch of traitors supporting that glitch over me." she muttered. "Should've known they'd turn out like this."

Taffyta never seemed to have liked the palette swaps or 'duplicated' racers in the first place, they were created out of nothing but the laziness of the developers of  _Sugar Rush_  just to fill up the Jumbotron. Taffyta had to admit it, she was glad she did not had a weird duplicated recolor to replace her on the roster back then. She kept telling herself not to mind their words, but they were hard to forget.

She used to idolize the old king of  _Sugar Rush,_ but then it turned out he had just been manipulating them to attain what he desired, Taffyta had felt more betrayed than ever that time. The person she always looked up to and wanted to be like turned to have such a gruesome reality, such a candy-coated Heart of Darkness. That time she had learned to never trust anyone blindly, and could swear there couldn't have been any worse way to learn that.

Then she thought that she could finally be on the right path by supporting their new and rightful leader who had excused her for all her mistakes. Supporting Vanellope as their President.

And she got to know she was wrong again when Vanellope sacrificed their game for her own dreams; and for worse, getting treated like a hero for that. Why was it her fault she couldn't keep  _Sugar Rush_  from unplugging? She did not have a stupid glitching ability like Vanellope that the players used to adore code knows why.  _"At least I race fair unlike her."_  She told herself. She knew that even if she couldn't glitch, Taffyta swore she was a lot better leader than Vanellope could ever be, no matter what the stupid color swaps had to say.

Taffyta swore she'd teach those color swaps a good lesson for sure when she has the chance, but right now she had another thing to focus on.

* * *

**Meanwhile at the hill,**

Shank looked at the sunset dreamingly. That's what brought her mind peace in the hardest times. She was worried, she was stressed and anxious. She didn't knew what to do or say and get through this, but she had to; she could not just keep this a secret forever. This had to be settled, and she was responsible for it. The kids seemed to have totally fallen in love with the environment of their game, like she had foreshadowed. Although she still was not sure about the things going on in Vanellope's mind, she had totally underestimated Vanellope's stubbornness. She barely saw the kid laugh or even smile anymore, the kid was losing her sweetness and just kept growing bitter day by day. And it was more noticeable after the argument she had with Ralph; maybe the kid needed some more support at the moment. It was even seeming like Vanellope was being even less focused during races, which was the last thing the game needed right now and Shank was worried about it. She had thought a week or two might have been enough for her to fit right in with everyone, but it surely had been a headache of a week for Shank.

But that wasn't the only thing to stress about, there was another thing that was troubling her like an overheated engine. Though Shank was known throughout her game for being a patient and wise person who could find her way through any situation, whether it was in or out of racing. Although being programmed for being a tough and ruthless boss racer, she always preferred resolving issues the most legal and friendly way possible. But this was something out of her hand, something even she could not change.

_No one_   _could change the code after all.._.

She stuffed her hands in her pockets and turned around, walking up to her shiny gorgeous car, considered as the most prized object in the game. She had compromised in the hardest parts in her life, this should be no big deal either. She ran her hand down the car's hood, feeling the screech of the hard metal under her palm as memories of a certain someone hit her.

_Well,_ _**almost** _ _no one._

Shank shook her head hard, brushing away the thoughts. No, this was something she had let go of years ago, she was not going to start thinking about this again, she just wasn't. Some things were not worth remembering and were better just forgotten. Some things and some people. But if nothing works, she might have to recall what she had left behind years ago.

"Looks like somebody is lost in thoughts." Came a feminine voice. Shank actually hadn't seen it coming, but she managed to just stand still without flinching.

"Welcome, was just expecting to see you, Taffyta." The adult racer replied as she turned to face the child with a small smile. Taffyta walked up her.

"Are you sure? Because I think I startled you there."

Shank shook her head. "It's going to take a lot more than that to startle me, kiddo."

"Oh, I know." Taffyta folded her arms and smiled smugly. "So, what's up? Wanted to check whether I can kick your butt now?"

Shank let out a challenging chortle. "I highly doubt that." The racer assured, but then started getting nervous. "Just… had something to talk 'bout."

"Uh huh, sure. I got something to show ya' as well. Check this out," Taffyta pulled her sleeve to reveal a tattoo underneath. Shank knelt down to have a clearer look at it. It was shaped like a car and had booth of their names in cursive, with a 'Friends Forever' underneath. Shank's eyes widened at it. "Y'know, cuz' we're friends now, also that bald guy that gives tattoos, he was saying I didn't have the guts to get a tattoo cuz' I'm a kid. I had to prove him wrong." She scoffed. "But doesn't matter, it's a mark of a friendship." She smiled. Shank looked her in the eyes before smirking.

"You sure that tattoo is real, kiddo?" she asked.

Taffyta's eyes widened. "…What do you mean?"

"That's just black ink put on your arm, not a real tattoo, Taff."

Taffyta sweated and chuckled nervously, pulling her sleeve down, she hadn't expected Shank to find out. "Heh, come on, who cares if it's not real?! I mean, the process hurt more than I expected…so I thought this was an easier way…"

Shank rolled her eyes. Real or not, it was still a mark of friendship. "You sure your dad won't freak out about this?"

She shrugged. "Don't know or really care about dad, but mom's gonna find it cool, so he might too. Also, I bet I look hardcore now,"

The woman chuckled and shook her head. "Yeah, sure you do."

"Anyway, I was willing to ask something as well," Taffyta hopped onto Shank's car's hood, taking out a lollipop. "You know, we've been staying here for more than a week now, I wanted to know…have you thought of adding our codes into the game already?" she inquired, unwrapping her lollipop. Shank bite her lips, "And I really wanna help you out with the gameplay, so…have you thought of it yet?"

Shank turned to face the kid. "Uh, yeah. I mean, why not? Sure I've thought of it."

"Uh huh, so when are ya' gonna do it?" Asked Taffyta, licking her lollipop. "Not to sound hasty or anything but shouldn't you've done it a long time ago? Look, we just want it so we can contribute more to this game, you know, without having to die permanently." The kid replied. "Not that I'm saying it, I don't care if my code isn't in here, it's the others that are afraid, not me."

"Yeah, that's right." Shank looked back at the sunset again.

"Shank," Taffyta got up and hopped off the car, worried. "Is something wrong?"

"No, kiddo, it's fine." Taffyta was quite sure something was not completely fine with her friend. Shank was sounding rather distressed. "A-And I see what you mean there, but look…I've been talking to Felony about this and," She paused. "See, the game itself is a bit under development currently, the developers are adding new features and tracks…" She explained. "So I'm thinking there might be an update soon, just a thought…but maybe it would be better if we do it after the update. Y'know, so the players would take you as an update feature." Taffyta nodded, although it was not really making much sense to her. "And it's a quite time-taking process too."

"But you added Vanellope just like that." She pointed out.

"Vanellope was alone so adding her wasn't a big deal, but there's 14 of you all. We can't risk a whole bunch of new characters all suddenly appearing in the gameplay."

"I see. That's alright, we can race to decide who will appear in the gameplay," Taffyta suggested, walking up to her. "Back in  _Sugar Rush,_ we had this race called the Random Roster Race that chose nine racers to be on the avatar roster each day. Similarly, we can have a race each day to decide who will participate in the gameplay."

Shank was not sure about that, although Taffyta's idea did made sense but she was afraid racing for gameplay appearance was going to have the kids fight among each other, and the last thing they needed was another rivalry here.

"Anyway," Taffyta decided to change the topic a bit. "What other features are being added for the new update?"

Shank rubbed her chin as she recalled. "Form how much I've known… some bug fixes, upgrades and stuff, and a new racetrack over there," Shank pointed into distance over a large mountain range at the other end of the game, where two big chimneys breathing out black smoke could be seen. "It's called  _Death Row,_  heard it's gonna be one of the toughest track around, infamously super slickly and a total untrustworthy switchback. I think it'll go through that smelting factory and end somewhere around the Tropical Drift range. In other words, it's almost everything you'd want in a challenging road to drive on." She explained. Taffyta gave it a look of enthusiasm. "We don't know when it'll be done, so it's better we just stay away from it for now. Driving on an incomplete track is rather dangerous than challenging, it's basically driving to death."

"Well, that another cool thing about online games, you get new cool stuff every update." The strawberry racer admitted. "We'll surely have a race on it when it's finished. I can't wait to kick Vanellope's butt on the new track." She cracked her knuckles, proceeding to head down the hill to begin her training. "Oh, and about that roaster race thingy we were talking 'bout earlier," Taffyta turned back to Shank. "I'm fine with whatever you come up with. You know how to properly run your game and actually care about it, unlike some _other people_ … and I accept that." Shank couldn't help but smile as Taffyta returned it along with a lollipop and winked, "Stay Sweet, Stay Shank."

The brunet stood still even after the kid was gone and sighed, looking at the lollipop. Felony, who happened to be present there walked out of the bushes. "So…did you tell her?" Shank's co-racer folded her arms and inquired.

Shank looked at her feet. "No, I couldn't."

Felony put a hand on her shoulder and shook her hard. "Shank, this is serious. You were supposed to tell her now, you can't keep this a secret forever!" Shank faced the short-heighted woman, with her eyes watering.

"But how?! How am I just supposed to go straight up her face and tell her that the developers have locked the code room access and now their codes cannot be added into the game?! Their candy-coated hearts will break, Felony." Shank squeaked. Felony sighed and pulled her closer.

"Then what do you intend? Have them stay here without their codes until the risk of dying permanently becomes a reality? Can you imagine how dangerous it would be? I understand that it's hard, Shank, but it's for their own good. There are tons of racing games in the Internet, we can make sure to find the best one for them."

"But they are in the best one! They love our game and I promised that no one will make them leave against their wishes. A talent like theirs belong in  _Slaughter Race,_ Felony. Plus, what do you imply I'm going to say to their parents?" She countered. "Trust me, we can do something, there's gotta be a way, there's always a way."

"There's always a way doesn't mean that it's always the right one! There are things we can't control, Shank. And the code isn't something to mess too much with, you don't want the past to repeat itself, do you?" Shank diverted her eyes, looking at her shiny red racecar that haughtily stood there. Felony took her leader's hand and eyed her firmly. "You know how to get over this stuff, remember all friendships change but the good ones get stronger because of it." Shank was discontented even though Felony had only recurred her own words.

Yanking her hand away, the brunet eyed her friend sternly, looking at her determinedly. "When there's road work ahead, we find another way instead of just quitting a race. There's always a way to win, there's gotta be one here too. And I'm gonna find it." She stormed over to her racecar and hopped into it, "I'm not losing Taffyta or any of the kids, no matter what it takes."

"Even if it results in something dangerous?" Inquired Felony.

Shank slowly eyed her sternly. "You gonna help me out or not?" Felony rolled her eyes and hopped into the car as well. Shank shifted the gear and put the pedal to the floor as she drove off, leaving nothing but puffs of dust behind.

Felony shook her head in dismay, glancing over at the racer next to her. And there was the old Shank she once used to know, acting all stubborn and insecure again.

* * *

**End of chapter.**

**A/N: Well, this story's been taking some plot turns I know, it will all start to make sense soon, at least I assume; thanks again to everyone for still keeping up with it.**

**Also, happy 7 years of Wrecking, Racing and Friendship to everyone, it's the 7** **th** **Anniversary of Wreck-it Ralph today! ^^**

**Please leave reviews! They absolutely make my day!**

**Author's Note:**

> A/N: Thanks for reading, hope you enjoyed it! I just made it like Vanellope never really got along with the racers (Which I personally believe happened) but I hope the racers weren’t too out-of-character, I tried my best despite how less screen-time they get in the movies.


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